"Cutting energy consumption and pollutant emissions and dealing with climate change are urgent, critically important tasks," Wen said in remarks posted on the central government's website.

Wen was speaking Monday at the inaugural meeting of a high-level task force set up to research China's response to climate change, the statement said.

The task force has been charged with setting and implementing policy to address global warming and the nation's worsening environment, the statement said.

No concrete initiatives were put forward at the meeting, according to the statement.

The Chinese government had set a five-year goal of reducing energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product by 20 percent by 2010, but has fallen far short of its goals as the economy roared ahead last year at 10.7 percent.

Energy consumption fell only 1.23 percent last year, less than one third of the stated annual goal of four percent.

China also missed last year's targets to reduce by two percent emissions of major air and water pollutants, as levels instead rose by almost two percent.

Last week a senior planning official warned that double-digit economic growth was making it difficult to reach the targets as fast-paced growth, largely fueld by coal burning.

"If this situation is not turned around quickly, then we will not only miss our energy saving task for this year, but the overall goal for the five-year period will be difficult to realise," state press quoted vice planning chief Xie Zhenhua as saying.

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