Emma Graham-Harrison, Reuters
January 10, 2006

Beijing: China missed its energy saving target last year, a top official said on Wednesday, but Beijing is cracking down on major companies that ignored environmental rules as sustainable development moves up the government agenda. Four of the country’s top power firms will not get environmental approval for any new projects until they resolve problems with existing plants, said Pan Yue, deputy head of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA). Without this permit construction cannot legally go ahead. Officials at Hong Kong listed Datang International Power Generation Co., and state owned Huadian Corp., Huaneng Group and China Guodian Corp. should also be held responsible for the violations, the watchdog said in an unusually strong statement posted on its Web site (www.sepa.gov.cn). …Read the full story [PDF].