China's wind power factories are mostly "image projects" built largely for displaying local governments' achievements rather than for use by ordinary people, the Beijing Times reported Wednesday, citing a top government official.

Miao Wei, vice minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, made the remarks on Sunday at a discussion with the Hubei delegation at the ongoing annual sessions. It is not suitable for China to build too many wind power factories because wind is always accompanied by sand in China and the equipment will erode quickly.

The wind power equipment's average lifespan is 20 years, but if there is sand in the wind they cannot hold up that long, Miao said, adding that "the 10-million-kilowatt wind power station in Gansu province is a typical 'image project'."

The wind power station Miao referred to has started construction in August 2008, with an estimated total reserve of 150 million kilowatts and an available capacity of more than 40 million kilowatts.

In other countries, the situation is different because they don't have sand in the wind, Miao said.