At a State Council meeting, the country's cabinet, Wen demanded all districts and related departments move to stamp out the reckless construction of projects without government approval, the China Securities Journal reported Thursday. ``All unqualified power plant projects must be canceled and illegal projects should be sorted out in accordance with regulations,'' the meeting chaired by Wen was told, according to the report.

In order to guarantee the stable supply of electricity, Wen said the mainland has to strengthen clean power plant construction but at the same time curb demand.

It was not the first time the mainland's leadership has issued such warnings.

China has suffered severe power failures over the past few years and provincial governments eager to cash in on a hot market have rushed to build new plants, often irrespective of environmental considerations and without proper planning procedures.

Despite repeated warnings from Beijing, many provinces are still engaged in the building of projects as electricity consumption rises sharply.

``The development of the power industry should be coordinated with the country's overall economic and social development,'' the newspaper said.

Officials have already earmarked new construction of power stations aimed at doubling total power generation capacity to about 900,000 megawatts by 2020, from the current 400,000.

Last year energy shortfalls reached crisis levels, with a 30,000-megawatt shortage in the summer, the worst since the 1980s.

A total of 24 provincial grids - covering more than two-thirds of the country - were forced to restrict power supply. AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE