China's leaders make fashion statement save energy

BEIJING, June 30 (Reuters) Mao suits were de rigueur in post-1949 egalitarian China. In the 1980s, Chinese leaders donned business suits to burnish their reformist credentials.

This week, Chinese President Hu Jintao and his peers shed suits and ties to make a statement in Beijing's hot summer months: wearing cooler white shirts can help China conserve energy.

The auditorium stage of the Central Party School was a sea of white collared shirts on Monday when Hu addressed the top brass, provincial leaders and members of the Communist Party's elite 198-seat Central Committee, according to pictures splashed on the front pages of major newspapers.

On Thursday, members of parliament's standing committee turned up for a session in casual clothing for the first time, the official Xinhua news agency said.

As temperatures soared to 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit) in Beijing on Tuesday, air conditioning use lifted electricity consumption to 11.22 million kilowatts by late afternoon, the highest ever recorded, Xinhua said. The city's maximum capacity is 13 million kilowatts.

Earlier this month, central government offices were without air-conditioning for a day as they warmed to a campaign to cut energy consumption and improve energy efficiency.

Last year China vowed to cut energy consumption for every unit of economic activity by 20 per cent by the end of 2010. But the country has fallen short of the target amid feverish economic growth.

The government's latest weapon is a team of 22 officials who will check whether offices, hotels, malls and other big buildings in Beijing are observing a ruling by the State Council, or cabinet, to set air-conditioning no cooler than 26 degrees Celsius (79 Fahrenheit).

Worried that the nation cannot sustain resource-sapping growth and hoping to curb pollution, the central government has repeatedly ordered officials and companies to save energy.

The drive has taken on the trappings of a mini-political campaign, with exhortations and penalties.

REUTERS PJ RN0918