Ten-year-old Ma Ding got up early on this chilly Saturday morning although he's just finished the final exams of this semester.

Ma, with seven schoolmates from Beijing Ya'er Hutong Primary School, went to Zhongguancun Street, Haidian District, to offer their ideas on energy saving. "If everyone in China pulls out the plugs after using electrical appliances 18 billion kilowatt-hours will be saved," he told the people who stopped to listen.

The activity he participated in was the opening ceremony of the energy saving campaign "20 ways to 20%", launched by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) China in Beijing on Saturday.

Dermot O'Gorman, WWF China representative, said the campaign which will continue until 2008, is expected to engage the general public in energy saving. This would contribute to the fulfillment of China's goal to reduce its per-unit GDP energy consumption by 20 percent by the end of the 11th Five-Year Plan.

"We're sending a clear message to the public that saving energy is simple and as easy as child's play," he said. He added that the WWF would also organize a competition to discover the "energy saving heroes" among ordinary citizens.

"I'll pass the tips to my parents and friends making them understand they can do a lot in their daily lives to save energy," Ma Ding said.

(Xinhua News Agency January 22, 2007)