2011 is the first year of the 12th Five-Year Plan and, as such, it is a crucial year to push forwardthe work of energy conservation and emissions reduction. Important large-scale energyconservation policies issued in 2011 include Outline of the 12th Five-year Plan for NationalEconomic and Social Development of The People's Republic of China (the "Plan") and Notice ofthe State Council on Issuing the Comprehensive Work Proposal for Energy Conservation andEmission Reduction during the 12th Five-Year Plan Period (GF (2011) No. 26) (the "Proposal").These two policies have established strategic objectives for energy conservation during the12th Five-Year Plan in China, and they have also identified the key tasks and direction of energyefficiency programs for energy-using products.

China has established a sound energy efficiency standard system which is mostly targeted onenergy-using products and equipment. During the 11th Five-Year Plan period, energy efficiencystandards were mainly used to raise the "entry threshold" for product energy efficiency. Assuch, they played a significant role in eliminating products with high energy consumption andincreasing the overall product energy efficiency in the market. During the 12th Five-Year Planperiod, a "pyramid" of measures will continue raising the top level of energy efficiency formajor energy-using products, including combining the concepts of "promoting energy efficienttechnology applications" and "promoting high efficiency and super-efficient products"; pushingenterprise technology advancement; and speeding up the upgrade and replacement of standards while promoting rapid increases in the level of energy efficiency. In order to achievethe objectives above, the Proposal clearly prioritizes carrying out the development of "toprunner" standards for energy-using products and related research.