China is making concrete efforts toward a low-carbon economy by curbing overcapacity and boosting strategic emerging industries, a senior official at the nation's top economic planner said yesterday.

Li Ningning of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said the overcapacity problem in a few sectors such as the coal chemicals industry must be tackled head on.

China is the biggest producer of coal chemicals. From January to November this year, China produced 314 million tons of coke, up 8.2 percent year on year, Li said.

In 2009, the production capacity of coke expanded by 30 million tons, while exports were down 96 percent from a year earlier to 480,000 tons. The capacity utilization rate 80 percent in 2008, he said.

"China is a country comparatively rich in coal, but lacks oil and gas. The absence of mature technology and the low investment threshold in the coal chemical industry means it is conducive to further investment," said Li.

Restructuring of the coal chemical industry involves eliminating outdated coal chemical production capacity, supporting technological innovations and strengthening policy guidance, according to Yuan Longhua, an official from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.