22 March 2011: The World Bank approved a US$13.4 million grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to provide technical assistance and capacity building to improve the quality and sustainability of energy efficiency programmes in three Chinese provinces.

The Provincial Energy Efficiency Scale-Up Project will help these provinces to meet their energy efficiency goals. Shandong Province is the largest energy consuming province with high level of industrialization. Shanxi Province is the largest coal producing province with one of the most energy intensive economies in China. And Jiangxi Province is in the process of large-scale industrialization. In all three provinces, the project will support activities aimed at: developing an energy efficiency service industry; establishing an energy efficiency monitoring, supervision, and information dissemination platform; and building capacity for energy efficiency programme management and supervision in local public-sector implementing agencies.

In addition, in Shanxi and Jiangxi Provinces, the project will assist in developing energy pricing and fiscal policies to strengthen incentives for energy efficiency activities and investments, and strengthening the energy efficiency statistics system. It will also help develop an energy efficiency appraisal system for fixed-assets investment in Jiangxi Province and support expansion of the building energy efficiency programme in public buildings in Shanxi Province. [World Bank Press Release]