In his speech on building a resources-saving society, Wen encouraged government officials to wear plain clothes instead of Western-style suits and neckties to attend internal meetings and other less important official activities to keep things cool. This should keep air conditioners from overwork.

Wasteful habits such as keeping lights on in government buildings even during the day and right through the night should be prohibited. Public servants are required to turn all office lights off when no one's about, he said.

China has sensed the increasing strain on energies, minerals, water, land and other natural resources, which lay the foundation to guarantee the sustainable economic and social development.

"We have made tremendous economic and social development progress, but at a high cost to natural resources and the environment," Wen said, adding that pollution has been another major side-effect of economic progress.

The uncontrolled expansion of cities, a blind pursuit of large-emission automobiles, luxury residential apartments and extravagant product packaging have added to the perennial problem of supply and demand, and pollution.

Currently, China's consumption of energy resources, raw materials and water per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) is much higher than the world average.

"This has resulted in a growing dependence on the import of resources," Wen said.

The central authorities have made it clear that efforts must be made to build a resources-saving society in China, which calls for the effective protection of and improvement in rational utilization of natural resources in every aspect of production, construction, logistics and consumption, so as to produce maximum economic and social benefits at the lowest possible cost.

"This (building a resources-saving society) has a bearing on China's economic and social progress and the prosperity of the Chinese nation," Wen added.

Wen described China's basic national conditions as "a big population lacking adequate resources and environment support management". China's population continues to grow, which means there will be fewer resources to exploit on average, especially freshwater and arable land.

"While promoting economic growth, we must strengthen environmental protection and improvement so that our people continue to have clean drinking water, fresh air, safe food, and a sound environment in which to live and work," Wen said.

"We must focus on saving resources and improving utilization efficiency, and on the conservation of energy, water, raw materials and land resources, and the development of a recycling economy" so as to make substantial progress in the next two years, Wen added.

This calls for the development of oil and petroleum substitutes and other energy-saving products; energy conservation in major energy-consuming industries and enterprises; the development of energy-saving vehicles and farm machinery; the promotion of energy-saving in buildings, household appliances and lighting fixtures; strict control of public cooling systems; and a vigorous development of the rural methane production projects and renewable energy such as water, wind, solar and biological energy.

The premier also called for waste recycling and a reduction in the use of non-biodegradable products.

As part of the drive, the government will strengthen guidance and planning, and new taxation and financial policies will be worked out to facilitate a resources-saving mode for production, consumption and city construction, Wen said.

Wen added that the government will also introduce legislation to regulate the conservation of resources, and violators will be dealt with harshly.

(Xinhua News Agency July 4, 2005)