IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v94y2016icp64-76.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

China's numerical management system for reducing national energy intensity

Author

Listed:
  • Li, Huimin
  • Zhao, Xiaofan
  • Yu, Yuqing
  • Wu, Tong
  • Qi, Ye

Abstract

In China, the national target for energy intensity reduction, when integrated with target disaggregation and information feedback systems, constitutes a numerical management system, which is a hallmark of modern governance. This paper points out the technical weaknesses of China's current numerical management system. In the process of target disaggregation, the national target cannot be fully disaggregated to local governments, sectors and enterprises without omissions. At the same time, governments at lower levels face pressure for reducing energy intensity that exceeds their respective jurisdictions. In the process of information feedback, information failure is inevitable due to statistical inaccuracy. Furthermore, the monitoring system is unable to correct all errors, and data verification plays a limited role in the examination system. To address these problems, we recommend that the government: use total energy consumption as the primary indicator of energy management; reform the accounting and reporting of energy statistics toward greater consistency, timeliness and transparency; clearly define the responsibility of the higher levels of government.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Huimin & Zhao, Xiaofan & Yu, Yuqing & Wu, Tong & Qi, Ye, 2016. "China's numerical management system for reducing national energy intensity," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 64-76.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:94:y:2016:i:c:p:64-76
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2016.03.037
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421516301434
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2016.03.037?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ke, Jing & Price, Lynn & Ohshita, Stephanie & Fridley, David & Khanna, Nina Zheng & Zhou, Nan & Levine, Mark, 2012. "China's industrial energy consumption trends and impacts of the Top-1000 Enterprises Energy-Saving Program and the Ten Key Energy-Saving Projects," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 562-569.
    2. Ma, Ben & Song, Guojun & Zhang, Lei & Sonnenfeld, David A., 2014. "Explaining sectoral discrepancies between national and provincial statistics in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 353-369.
    3. Chai, Jian & Guo, Ju-E & Wang, Shou-Yang & Lai, Kin Keung, 2009. "Why does energy intensity fluctuate in China?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 5717-5731, December.
    4. Zhao, Xiaofan & Li, Huimin & Wu, Liang & Qi, Ye, 2014. "Implementation of energy-saving policies in China: How local governments assisted industrial enterprises in achieving energy-saving targets," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 170-184.
    5. Liao, Hua & Fan, Ying & Wei, Yi-Ming, 2007. "What induced China's energy intensity to fluctuate: 1997-2006?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 4640-4649, September.
    6. Zhang, Daisheng & Aunan, Kristin & Martin Seip, Hans & Vennemo, Haakon, 2011. "The energy intensity target in China's 11th Five-Year Plan period--Local implementation and achievements in Shanxi Province," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 4115-4124, July.
    7. Wang, Can & Chen, Jining & Zou, Ji, 2005. "Decomposition of energy-related CO2 emission in China: 1957–2000," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 73-83.
    8. Li, Huimin & Wu, Tong & Zhao, Xiaofan & Wang, Xiao & Qi, Ye, 2014. "Regional disparities and carbon “outsourcing”: The political economy of China's energy policy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 950-958.
    9. Zhang, Ming & Mu, Hailin & Ning, Yadong, 2009. "Accounting for energy-related CO2 emission in China, 1991-2006," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 767-773, March.
    10. Price, Lynn & Levine, Mark D. & Zhou, Nan & Fridley, David & Aden, Nathaniel & Lu, Hongyou & McNeil, Michael & Zheng, Nina & Qin, Yining & Yowargana, Ping, 2011. "Assessment of China's energy-saving and emission-reduction accomplishments and opportunities during the 11th Five Year Plan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 2165-2178, April.
    11. Sinton, Jonathan E & Levine, Mark D & Qingyi, Wang, 1998. "Energy efficiency in China: accomplishments and challenges," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(11), pages 813-829, September.
    12. Lund, Henrik, 1999. "Implementation of energy-conservation policies: the case of electric heating conversion in Denmark," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 64(1-4), pages 117-127, September.
    13. Zhou, Nan & Levine, Mark D. & Price, Lynn, 2010. "Overview of current energy-efficiency policies in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(11), pages 6439-6452, November.
    14. Yu, Yuqing & Wang, Xiao & Li, Huimin & Qi, Ye & Tamura, Kentaro, 2015. "Ex-post assessment of China's industrial energy efficiency policies during the 11th Five-Year Plan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 132-145.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Shi, Xunpeng & Yu, Jian & Cheong, Tsun Se, 2020. "Convergence and distribution dynamics of energy consumption among China's households," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    2. Zhang, Pengfeng & Gu, Haiying, 2023. "Potential policy coordination: Can energy intensity targets affect energy poverty?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    3. Sun, Yong & Liu, Baoyin & Sun, Zhongrui & Yang, Ruijia, 2023. "Inter-regional cooperation in the transfers of energy-intensive industry: An evolutionary game approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    4. Franco, Sainu & Mandla, Venkata Ravibabu & Ram Mohan Rao, K., 2017. "Urbanization, energy consumption and emissions in the Indian context A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 898-907.
    5. Lijun Zeng & Laijun Zhao & Qin Wang & Bingcheng Wang & Yuan Ma & Wei Cui & Yujing Xie, 2018. "Modeling Interprovincial Cooperative Energy Saving in China: An Electricity Utilization Perspective," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-25, January.
    6. Zhang, Ping & Shi, XunPeng & Sun, YongPing & Cui, Jingbo & Shao, Shuai, 2019. "Have China's provinces achieved their targets of energy intensity reduction? Reassessment based on nighttime lighting data," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 276-283.
    7. Tang, Pengcheng & Yang, Shuwang & Shen, Jun & Fu, Shuke, 2018. "Does China's low-carbon pilot programme really take off? Evidence from land transfer of energy-intensive industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 482-491.
    8. Ma, Ben & Liu, Min, 2022. "Improved statistical consistency: The effect of data revisions on the energy use gap between China and its provinces," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    9. Zheng, Heran & Shan, Yuli & Mi, Zhifu & Meng, Jing & Ou, Jiamin & Schroeder, Heike & Guan, Dabo, 2018. "How modifications of China's energy data affect carbon mitigation targets," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 337-343.
    10. Li, Meng & Gao, Yuning & Meng, Bo & Yang, Zhusong, 2021. "Managing the mitigation: Analysis of the effectiveness of target-based policies on China's provincial carbon emission and transfer," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    11. Pan Zhang & Jiannan Wu, 2018. "Performance-Based or Politic-Related Decomposition of Environmental Targets: A Multilevel Analysis in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-16, September.
    12. Mei Lu & Michael G. Pollitt & Ke Wang & Yi-Ming Wei, 2023. "The incremental impact of China’s carbon trading pilots," Working Papers EPRG2316, Energy Policy Research Group, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    13. Shi, Daqian & Yang, Zhijiu & Ji, Hongkun, 2022. "Energy target-based responsibility system and corporate energy efficiency: Evidence from the eleventh Five Year Plan in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    14. Tang, Pengcheng & Yang, Shuwang & Fu, Shuke, 2018. "Do political incentive affects China's land transfer in energy-intensive industries?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 550-559.
    15. Yang, Zhijiu & Ding, Hai & Zhu, Wenbo, 2024. "Environmental regulation and land resource allocation in China: Empirical evidence from micro-level land transaction data," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    16. Zhang, Pengpeng & Zhang, Lixiao & Tian, Xin & Hao, Yan & Wang, Changbo, 2018. "Urban energy transition in China: Insights from trends, socioeconomic drivers, and environmental impacts of Beijing," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 173-183.
    17. Filippini, Massimo & Geissmann, Thomas & Karplus, Valerie J. & Zhang, Da, 2020. "The productivity impacts of energy efficiency programs in developing countries: Evidence from iron and steel firms in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    18. Zhang, Pan, 2019. "Do energy intensity targets matter for wind energy development? Identifying their heterogeneous effects in Chinese provinces with different wind resources," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 968-975.
    19. Ge, Tao & Ding, Ziqi & Lu, Xiaoya & Yang, Keling, 2023. "Spillover effect of energy intensity targets on renewable energy consumption in China: A spatial econometric approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Li, Huimin & Wu, Tong & Zhao, Xiaofan & Wang, Xiao & Qi, Ye, 2014. "Regional disparities and carbon “outsourcing”: The political economy of China's energy policy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 950-958.
    2. Zhou, Zhongbing & Qin, Quande & Wei, Yi-Ming, 2020. "Government intervention in energy conservation: Justification and warning," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    3. Filippini, Massimo & Geissmann, Thomas & Karplus, Valerie J. & Zhang, Da, 2020. "The productivity impacts of energy efficiency programs in developing countries: Evidence from iron and steel firms in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    4. Zhao, Xiaofan & Li, Huimin & Wu, Liang & Qi, Ye, 2014. "Implementation of energy-saving policies in China: How local governments assisted industrial enterprises in achieving energy-saving targets," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 170-184.
    5. Zhao, Xiaofan & Wu, Liang, 2016. "Interpreting the Evolution of the Energy-Saving Target Allocation System in China (2006–13): A View of Policy Learning," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 83-94.
    6. Fujii, Hidemichi & Cao, Jing & Managi, Shunsuke, 2016. "Firm-level environmentally sensitive productivity and innovation in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 915-925.
    7. Lo, Kevin & Wang, Mark Y., 2013. "Energy conservation in China’s Twelfth Five-Year Plan period: Continuation or paradigm shift?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 18(C), pages 499-507.
    8. Liang, Sai & Zhang, Tianzhu, 2011. "Interactions of energy technology development and new energy exploitation with water technology development in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 6960-6966.
    9. Ma, Ben & Zheng, Xinye, 2018. "Biased data revisions: Unintended consequences of China's energy-saving mandates," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 102-113.
    10. Kahrl, Fredrich & Roland-Holst, David & Zilberman, David, 2013. "Past as Prologue? Understanding energy use in post-2002 China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 759-771.
    11. Lijun Zeng & Laijun Zhao & Qin Wang & Bingcheng Wang & Yuan Ma & Wei Cui & Yujing Xie, 2018. "Modeling Interprovincial Cooperative Energy Saving in China: An Electricity Utilization Perspective," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-25, January.
    12. Li, Ke & Lin, Boqiang, 2016. "Impact of energy conservation policies on the green productivity in China’s manufacturing sector: Evidence from a three-stage DEA model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 351-363.
    13. Wu, Libo & Huo, Hong, 2014. "Energy efficiency achievements in China׳s industrial and transport sectors: How do they rate?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 38-46.
    14. Liu, Nan & Ma, Zujun & Kang, Jidong, 2015. "Changes in carbon intensity in China's industrial sector: Decomposition and attribution analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 28-38.
    15. Song, Feng & Zheng, Xinye, 2012. "What drives the change in China's energy intensity: Combining decomposition analysis and econometric analysis at the provincial level," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 445-453.
    16. Dayong Zhang & David C. Broadstock, 2016. "Club Convergence in the Energy Intensity of China," The Energy Journal, , vol. 37(3), pages 137-158, July.
    17. Yuan, Jiahai & Kang, Junjie & Yu, Cong & Hu, Zhaoguang, 2011. "Energy conservation and emissions reduction in China—Progress and prospective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(9), pages 4334-4347.
    18. Wang, Can & Lin, Jie & Cai, Wenjia & Liao, Hua, 2014. "China׳s carbon mitigation strategies: Enough?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 47-56.
    19. Wu, Jing & Zuidema, Christian & Gugerell, Katharina & de Roo, Gert, 2017. "Mind the gap! Barriers and implementation deficiencies of energy policies at the local scale in urban China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 201-211.
    20. Yuzhe Wang & Jing Zhao & Cheryl S.F. Chi, 2014. "China's Energy Reduction Policy System: Outcomes and Responses of Local Governments," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 22(3), pages 56-78, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:94:y:2016:i:c:p:64-76. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.