China is expected to complete the de-capacity task for the 13th Five-year Plan period (2016-2020) two years ahead of schedule, the Xinhua-run Economic Information Daily reported on Wednesday.
During the period, China aims to cut the coal production capacity of up to 500 million metric tons (tonnes) and the crude steel production capacity of 150 million tonnes.
As of July this year, China has cut 24.7 million tonnes of steel capacity, representing more than 80 percent of the full-year de-capacity task, according to Xia Nong, an official of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner.
In the first eight months of the year, China accumulatively cut the excessive coal capacity of about 100 million tonnes, representing 67 percent of the full-year de-capacity task. The coal supplies and prices at the domestic market have been stable, said Li Fulong, an official with the National Energy Administration.
Industry insiders note that from the current point of view, if the regions complete the task as planned this year, the de-capacity tasks in the coal and crude steel fields in the period of 2016-2020 will be completed two years ahead of schedule.
In addition to the de-capacity in steel and coal industries, China is also projected to complete the task of eliminating outdated capacities in the coal-fired power industry.
According to Li, in the first three quarters of the year, the country's new coal-fired power installed capacity decreased by nearly 40 percent year on year. It is expected to complete the target of phasing out the backward coal-fired power generating units for the 13th Five-year Plan period ahead of schedule.
With the year-end approach, local authorities have also been increasing efforts to complete the de-capacity tasks.
For example, as of the end of September, east China's Fujian Province has completed the task of shutting down 34 coal mines and dismantling relevant facilities.
According to authorities of Xingtai City, a large steel production base in north China's Hebei Province, the city has cut 1.89 million tons of coal production capacity so far this year, exceeding the planned task set by the provincial authorities for the city to cut 660,000 tonnes of coal capacity this year.
In terms of the de-capacity in the steel industry, Hebei Province has already released a document to resolutely stop the resumption of the steel capacity that has been phased out. (Edited by Hu Pingchao, hupingchao@xinhua.org)
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