Beijing has threatened to cut off power to the capital's hotels unless they implement a 20% reduction in consumption during peak periods, officials said recently.

The Beijing government's development reform commission ordered the power reductions Monday, but tourist officials, representing the hotels, have come out strongly against the plan and are rallying opposition to it. Power cuts at hotels are not acceptable. The hotels reflect the image of a city, the director of the hotel department of Beijing Tourist Bureau stated.

China is facing its biggest power shortage since the 1980s, with a shortfall of 30 million kilowatts caused by the rapid development of power-hungry industries as well as the fast pace of urbanisation and a rise in living standards. The hotels had been told to keep air conditioners no lower than 26 degrees centigrade, to turn them off in non-occupied rooms and refrain from doing laundry during peak periods of electricity demand, reports said.