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China earlier pledged to reduce carbon dioxide emissions per unit of gross domestic product by 40 to 45 per cent by 2020 from 2005 levels, a major goal for the country in its battle against climate change.

The State Council, China's cabinet, has approved a five-year work plan on energy-saving and emissions reduction to protect the environment and promote sustainable development, a government statement said.

In this week's cabinet meeting, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao urged greater efforts to be made to promote energy saving and emissions reductions in key industrial areas between 2011-15, according to the statement.

"The country will continue to eliminate out-of-date facilities, develop public transportation, implement energy-saving projects and promote the use of energy-saving products," Wen said.

He called for measures to optimize the country's industrial structure, develop service and strategic emerging industries, and build a safe, stable, economical and clean energy system.

The Chinese government claimed that the country had fulfilled most of its binding energy-saving and emission reduction goals during the 2006-2010 period.

The government statement, however, did not give details about how much it reduced emissions over the five-year period or on how much it will reduce them during the next five years.

The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology earlier sent a guideline to the country's cement industry to cut backward capacity by 150 million tons before the end of this year, which is 50 per cent more than that in 2010 and above the market estimates of 130 million tons.

More detailed measures to reduce emissions are expected to be issued in the coming months, including introducing assessment systems for local officials, shutting down outdated production facilities and managing total energy consumption.

London-based energy company BP Plc said in its annual statistical review of world energy that China's carbon dioxide emissions rose 10.4 per cent on-year to 8.33 billion tons in 2010, with the global total gaining 5.8 per cent to 33.16 billion tons.