Service Sector Can Help Cut Emissions - China Premier

BEIJING - China should push development of its service sector and invest in new technology to curb growing pollution and thirst for energy, state television on Tuesday quoted Premier Wen Jiabao saying.

"To save energy and cut emissions, on the one hand we must readjust the economic structure and strongly develop the service industry," the report quoted Wen saying at a meeting with officials and analysts.

"On the other we must promote energy saving and new technologies, and doing good work on statistics is also very important -- we are currently strengthening this work."

Beijing is promoting cleaner growth after years of calling for economic expansion at any cost because dirty air and water are limiting growth, provoking social unrest and causing diplomatic headaches.

The communist party plans to write a commitment to more balanced growth into its charter at a key meeting next month, where the environment will be an important theme.

But the central government has struggled to enforce the change of direction, with provincial officials often chasing growth and jobs at the expense of the environment.

Beijing recently shelved the public release of a "green GDP" study which put a cost to the country's environmental damage after lobbying by local officials, Chinese media reported.