China to phase out incandescent light bulbs in five years

China will ban imports and sales of certain incandescent light bulbs starting next October to encourage the use of alternative lighting sources such as light-emitting diode (LED), the Securities Times reported on Saturday. China's planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), has drawn up a plan to phase out the use of most incandescent bulbs in five years, the newspaper said.
China will ban the imports and sales of all incandescent bulbs over 100 watts starting October 1 next year, and will gradually extend the ban to those over 15 watts on October 1, 2016, it said. The plan could give a boost to shares of LED product makers such as Elec-Tech International Co Ltd, Zhejiang Yankon Group Co Ltd and Guangzhou Hongli Opto Electronic Co Ltd.
China, the world's biggest producer of both incandescent and LED lights, has been stepping up efforts to conserve energy and encourage the use of renewable resources. China produced 85 percent of the world's LED lights last year, up from 20 percent in 1996, the newspaper said.