BEIJING, June 14 (Xinhua) -- As China continues to find ways to conserve energy, a forum on the subject heard that the country wastes2 to 2.5 percent more than advanced countries in the transmission of electricity.

China's power transmission lines waste 45 billion kilowatt-hours, equaling the power consumption of one of its smaller provinces, the on-going forum was told here Wednesday.

The delegates to the forum heard that structural problems in China's power supply are serious and China's power plants use 50 grams more coal per kilowatt-hour than advanced power stations around the world.

China's power supply for the first four months of 2006 reached 817.5 billion kilowatt-hours, of which 705 billion kilowatt-hours were produced from coal-fired generating plants.

Statistics show that by 2020 China will consume 3 billion tons of coal.

Wang Yumin, vice chairman of State Electricity Regulatory Commission, said at the forum that the development of clean energy such as hydro-power should be promoted.

China has launched a countrywide energy-saving campaign urging different sectors to cut down energy consumption and improve their efficiency.

A senior official with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said the government will close small, coal-fired power stations that are excessively wasteful and polluting. Enditem