The first ever white paper China issued yesterday on its energy
conditions and policies provides a panoramic view of the changes
the country has made and the challenges it will face on energy
development.
To pursue sustainable economic and social advancement,
policymakers must work hard to ensure aggressive enforcement of an
energy strategy that emphasizes thrift, cleanness and safety.
As the fastest growing major economy with the world's largest
population, China has understandably caught more and more global
attention for its increasing appetite for energy. While the price
of oil in the international market is set to break $100 a barrel,
no one can ignore the growth of China's energy demand.
The new energy report cleared up a number of key points of
confusion which have fuelled exaggerated concerns over the impact
of China's energy need.
China is now the world's second-largest energy producer and
consumer and is also undergoing rapid industrialization.
The experience of developed countries does not allow optimism
for the prospect of the global energy supply. If China uses as much
energy in per capita terms as developed countries to fulfill its
legitimate right of pursuing prosperity and a higher living
standard for its people, its 1.3-billion population will surely
make the global energy supply too tight.
However, it is important to remember, as the white paper
correctly pointed out, that, first, for a long time China has
relied largely on domestic energy resources to develop its economy,
and the rate of self-sufficiency has been above 90 percent, much
higher than that in most developed countries.
Second, though China's energy consumption is growing rapidly,
its per-capita energy consumption level is still fairly low. The
figures for China's per-capita oil consumption and imports account
for only one half and one quarter of the world's average,
respectively.
Third, more importantly, China has been and will continue to be
keen on energy conservation.
China started energy conservation work in a planned and
organized way in the early 1980s and achieved the goal of
quadrupling economic growth while only doubling energy consumption
by the late 1990s. Now, the country is pressing ahead with the new
task to cut the per-unit GDP energy consumption by 20 percent by
2010 compared to 2005.
China's vigorous pursuit of a sustainable energy strategy will
make a big difference for its long-term economic growth as well as
the global energy prospect.
(China Daily December 27, 2007)