China's Ministry of Finance announced that it would arrange RMB27 billion in 2008 as special funding to support the country's efforts in energy saving and emission control.

Of the RMB27 billion, RMB7.5 billion will be used to award top ten energy saving projects; RMB7 billion will be spent on awarding city tube network construction in middle and western areas; RMB4 billion will be used as incentives for eliminating backward production capacity; RMB5 billion will be used as incentives for river and lake cleaning; and the remaining RMB3.5 billion will be used for environmental testing capacity construction and energy saving work.

Added to the RMB14.8 billion allocated previously, China's central finance will spend a total of RMB41.8 billion this year on energy saving and emission control.

Zhang Shaochun, deputy director of China's Ministry of Finance, says the ministry is studying the construction of a long-term effective mechanism in support of energy saving and emission reduction with the focus on issuing tax policies that can help encourage energy saving and emission control; building outsourcing principles for energy-saving products; improving city waste water and pollution emission charging system; and mobilizing enterprises' initiatives in energy saving.