China promotes energy savings to stimulate consumption

China announced it will offer subsidies, ranging from 100 to 400 Yuan (15.87 to 63.49 U.S. dollars), on every energy-efficient television or air conditioner sold starting June 1. The Chinese Ministry of Finance said that the promotion period was tentatively fixed at one year. According to the authorities’ preliminary estimate, the move would boost consumption by more than 135 billion Yuan and save about 12 billion kwh of electricity a year, the equivalent of 4 million tonnes of standard coal. The Chinese government last week approved 25.5 billion Yuan in subsidies to promote the consumption of energy-saving household electrical appliances. The ministry will soon announce promotion measures for energy-saving refrigerators, washing machines and water heaters.