Zhang Guobao, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said power supply could meet demand even in power-hungry areas such as the economically dynamic Zhejiang Province in east China.

    As a matter of fact, there were already no big power short falls in the first six months, he told a press conference at the Information Office of the State Council.

    Zhang said the government will accelerate the efforts to close small coal-fired unit that cost excessive energies and produce heavy pollution in an industrial reshuffling.

    Coal-fired generation units with a combined capacity of 15 million kw will be closed in the coming five years, he revealed.

    But he refuted any power gluts existence in China, saying the nation's power shortages have only eased up.

    China's total power installed capacity has reached 531 million kilowatts, and more than 70 million kw of newly installed capacity is expected to be put into production this year.

    In the second half of the year, China's power supply and demand will be basically balanced, and retort the tight situation that has continued since June 2002, said Zhang.

    About 250 million kw of power station projects are under construction in China. The newly installed capacity amounted to 22.39 million kw from January to April this year, and a total installed capacity of 29.55 million kw projects were approved from January to May.

    Zhang said that China's power supply for the first four months has reached 817.5 billion kw/hour, up 11.1 percent over the same period of last year, including hydroelectricity of 92.7 billion kw/hour, coal-fired power of 704.9 billion kwh and nuclear power of 16.6 billion kwh.

    The electricity consumption for the first four months accounts to 846.6 billion kw/hour, a rise of 12.33 percent year-on-year. Enditem