Chapter II Administration of Energy Conservation

Article 11 The State Council and the local people’s governments at or above the county level shall enhance leadership in energy conservation, by making plans for the work in energy conservation, and coordinating, supervising, inspecting and promoting such work.

Article 12 The departments in charge of energy conservation and the relevant departments under the people’s governments at or above the county level shall, within the limits of their respective duties, enhance supervision and inspection with respect to the enforcement of the laws and regulations governing energy conservation and the application of the standards for energy conservation, and, in accordance with law, investigate and deal with violations of law in the use of energy.

When performing the duty of administration and supervision in respect of energy conservation, no one shall charge fees to any unit or individual under administration and supervision.

Article 13 The administrative department for standardization under the State Council and the relevant departments under the same shall, according to law, organize efforts to formulate, and modify in a timely manner, State and industrial standards for energy conservation, to set up a sound system of standards for energy conservation.

The administrative department for standardization under the State Council shall, in conjunction with the department in charge of energy conservation and the relevant departments under the same, formulate mandatory energy efficiency standards for energy-using products and equipment, and energy consumption norms per unit product for the products for the manufacture of which excessive quantities of energy are consumed.

The State encourages enterprises to establish their own energy conservation standards that are more rigorous than the State or industrial standards.

The local energy conservation standards formulated by provinces, autonomous regions or municipalities directly under the Central Government, which are more rigorous than the mandatory State or industrial standards shall be submitted to the State Council for approval by the people’s government thereof, unless otherwise provided for by this Law.

Article 14 The State and industrial standards for energy conservation in construction shall be formulated by the department in charge of construction under the State Council and shall be published according to the statutory procedures.

The department in charge of construction under the people’s government of a province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government may, in light of the actual local conditions, formulate local standards for energy conservation in construction which are more rigorous than the State or industrial standards, and shall present such standards to the departments in charge of standardization and construction under the State Council for the record.

Article 15 The State applies an energy conservation assessment and examination system to fixed-asset investment projects. If a project fails to meet the mandatory energy conservation standards, the authority responsible for examination and approval of projects as prescribed by law shall not give approval for its construction, and the developer shall not start construction; where construction of such a project has been completed, it shall not be put into production or to use. The specific measures in this regard shall be formulated by the department in charge of energy conservation under the State Council in conjunction with the relevant departments under the same.

Article 16 The State applies an elimination system to the outdated products, equipment and production techniques which consume excessive quantities of energy. The department in charge of energy conservation under the State Council shall, in conjunction with the relevant departments under the same, compile and publish the catalogue of the energy-using products, equipment and production techniques to be eliminated, and the measures for implementation.

Manufacturers of products that consume excessive quantities of energy in the process shall conform to the norms set for per unit product. The manufacturer that uses energy in excess of the norm set for per unit product shall be ordered to rectify within a time limit by the department in charge of energy conservation within the limits of its power as prescribed by the State Council.

Special equipment, which consumes excessive quantities of energy, shall be subject to examination and control for energy conservation as required by the State Council.

Article 17 Manufacturing, importing or distributing of the energy-using products or equipment which the State has eliminated by official order or which fail to conform to the mandatory energy efficiency standards is prohibited; and using of the energy-using equipment or production techniques which the State has eliminated by official order is prohibited.

Article 18 The State applies an energy efficiency labeling system to the energy-using products such as household electronic appliances, which are widely used and which consume large quantities of energy. The catalogue of products to which the energy efficiency labeling system is applied and the measures for implementation shall be formulated and published by the department in charge of energy conservation under the State Council in conjunction with the regulatory authority for quality control under the same.

Article 19 Manufacturers and importers shall attach energy efficiency labels to energy-using products which are included in the catalogue of products to which the national energy efficiency labeling system is applied, with direction given on the packages or in technical manuals and shall, according to the relevant regulations, file the matter for the record with the institution authorized by both the regulatory authority for quality control under the State Council and the department in charge of energy conservation under the same.

Manufacturers and importers shall be accountable for the accuracy of the energy efficiency labels attached and of the related information. Marketing of the products to which energy efficiency labels are not attached as required is prohibited.

Forgery of energy efficiency labels, using the labels of other products, or using energy efficiency labels for deceptive advertising is prohibited.

Article 20 Manufacturers and sellers of energy-using products may, under the principle of voluntariness and in accordance with the State regulations governing certification of energy-saving products, apply for such certification with the institutions which are recognized by the administrative department for approval and certification under the State Council as ones for certification of energy-saving products. They shall, after their products are considered qualified, be issued certificates for the said products and may have labels bearing such certification attached to the products or to the packages thereof.

Use of forged certification labels, or use of certification labels of other products is prohibited.

Article 21 The statistics departments of the people’s governments at or above the county level shall, in conjunction with the relevant departments at the same level, establish a sound energy statistics system, improve the index system for energy statistics, and improve and standardize the method of energy statistics collection, in order to ensure the authenticity and completeness of the energy statistical data collected.

The statistics department under the State Council shall, in conjunction with the department in charge of energy conservation under the same, regularly make known to the public such information as energy consumption and energy conservation of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government and the major energy-consuming industries. Article 22 The State encourages the development of energy-saving services and supports them in providing such energy-saving services as consultation, designing, assessment, monitoring, auditing, and certification.

The State supports the energy-saving services in their efforts to disseminate knowledge about energy conservation, conduct training in energy-saving technologies, and provide information in energy-saving, give energy saving demonstration and offer other energy-saving services for the benefit of the public.

Article 23 The State encourages trade associations to play a part in their respective trades in making energy conservation planning, formulating and implementing the standards for energy conservation, promoting the wide use of energy-saving technologies, collecting statistics of energy consumption, disseminating knowledge about and providing training in energy conservation, and giving consultation in this respect.