Vice Premier Li Keqiang said Thursday that China should continue its industrial restructuring and develop new energy and environmentally-friendly products.

During an industry meeting, Li said every crisis in history had bred technological breakthroughs. For China, development of green products was key to stabilizing exports and spurring domestic spending and investment.

China had huge potential in this area, which deserved more government support in concert with market-based mechanisms, he said. Fiscal and tax incentives should be strengthened to promote application of new energy and environmental protection technology, he said.

China has made consistent efforts to curb pollution and save energy through industrial restructuring.

From 2006 to 2008, China cut its energy consumption by 10.1 percent. That saved 300 million tonnes of standard coal and cut CO2 emissions by 750 million tonnes, Xie Zhenhua, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, told Xinhua Tuesday.

This year, China plans to eliminate 15 million kilowatts of capacity in small coal-powered plants, along with 10 million tonnes of obsolete capacity in the iron industry and 6 million tonnes in the steel industry this year.

(Xinhua News Agency May 21, 2009)