CHINA aims to cut energy consumption this year by five percent for each unit of gross domestic product, its top economic planner said yesterday.

Central government faces growing pressure to improve energy efficiency after missing its goal for 2006, Xie Zhenhua, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, said in Beijing. By 2010, China intends to cut the power consumed per unit of gross domestic product by 20 percent.

Premier Wen Jiabao last year told government departments to step up efforts to save energy and reduce emissions.