China's energy efficiency improves on Q1

China’s energy efficiency fared better in the second quarter of the year after the government initiated a crackdown earlier this year on wasteful industries to reverse an alarming decline in efficiency, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing the National Bureau of Statistics. Consumption of energy compared to economic output increased for the first half of the year by 0.09% from the same period last year. The figure was slower than the 3.2% increase in energy intensity that China reported in the first quarter, suggesting an improvement. Chinese officials promised last year to cut carbon emission levels per dollar of economic output by 40-45% by 2020 compared with 2005 levels. China is in the final year of its five-year drive to improve energy efficiency by 20%. Its targets have been under scrutiny since the country’s economic stimulus jumpstarted a housing and infrastructure boom, leading to a spike in energy consumption by less-efficient sectors.