China May Spend $373 Billion for Energy Savings, Emissions Curbs

China, the world’s biggest generator of greenhouse gases, estimated it may spend 2.37 trillion yuan ($373 billion) on projects for conserving energy and reducing emissions in the five years through 2015, spurring a surge in shares of environmental protection companies.

The nation plans by 2015 to reduce the amount of energy it uses to produce every unit of gross domestic product by 16 percent from 2010 levels, the State Council said in a statement late yesterday. In the five years through 2015, the world’s second-biggest economy is aiming for energy savings equal to 670 million tons of standard coal equivalent energy, it said.