China will set aside 10.6 billion yuan as a special fund to help the country's small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to cut down their carbon dioxide emissions and energy consumption this year.

The news was announced by an official of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology during an industrial forum last week in Beijing.

Because more than 50 percent of industrial emissions are from SMEs in China, the Chinese government said it would step up efforts to close down those that pollute heavily and those with outdated technology. It would help certain manufacturers to embrace environmentally-friendly technology, said Chen Xin, a division director of the ministry, during the meeting.

Chen said the government was striving to reduce the country's carbon intensity by 40 to 45 percent in 2020 from 2005 levels, in line with its commitment at the international environment summit in Copenhagen last year. The special fund reflects part of the government's commitment to have the country marching towards the goal, he added.

The ministry's SME development and promotion center will recommend a group of model SMEs in energy saving and emission reduction to relevant government departments so they can receive strong policy backing.

"Comet Group, a Guangzhou-based paper shredder manufacturer, is a leader in energy saving and technology development," Chen said.

Comet paper shredder machines now meet more than 40 percent of the Chinese market demand, which was 500,000 units in 2009.

"We are going to produce a brand new generation of paper shredder machines for the market this year in order to meet the government's call for energy cost efficiency," said Comet President Huang Fenqiang.

The latest water-cooled paper shredder doesn't have to be turned off every 15 minutes as did the previous mode to prevent overheating. The new one can save about 30 percent in energy consumption, Huang said.

"Water cooling technology is considered the latest in the paper shredder industry," he added.