China Doesn’t See End to Reliance on Foreign Energy

China is worryingly dependent on foreigners for key energy resources like oil and gas, according to a recent report from the Chinese Communist Party’s external propaganda office.
China Doesn’t See End to Reliance on Foreign Energy
Patrons attend an oil and petroleum exploration exhibition in Beijing on March 21, 2012. Part of the goals of the Chinese regime are to attempt to further develop domestic energy resources. (Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images)
10/30/2012
Updated:
10/1/2015
<a><img class="size-full wp-image-1774988" src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/141652420.jpg" alt="an oil and petroleum exploration exhibition in Beijing" width="750" height="562"/></a>
an oil and petroleum exploration exhibition in Beijing

China is worryingly dependent on foreigners for key energy resources like oil and gas, according to a recent report from the Chinese Communist Party’s external propaganda office.

The State Council Information Office, also known as the CCP’s arm for foreign propaganda, published a white paper on China’s energy policy recently, noting that the country’s dependency on foreign oil sources already sits at 57 percent. 

The white paper does not propose any easy solutions for the problem.

Mr. Fang, an energy expert at a major oil production center in China, who spoke under condition of anonymity, said in a telephone interview with The Epoch Times that the stability and safety of external supply, along with prices, is outside China’s control, and to him that’s a cause for concern.

Part of the goals of the regime are therefore to attempt to further develop domestic energy resources, and also to bring private capital on board to access that domestic potential.

The latter may not be a successful strategy in China, according to Chen Liuqin, an energy expert with the China Institute of Energy Economics, in an article on a Chinese investment website.  

“Private capital has problems when entering the mining and resource sectors, which makes it difficult for them to compete with state-owned enterprises. Given these limitations, private capital doesn’t dare to enter this sector, even when the government encourages them to,” Chen wrote.

Alternative fuels won’t be able to solve China’s energy dependency, according to Lin Boqiang, a member of National Energy Commission’s Energy Expert Advisory Committee.  

The Party’s “12th Five-Year Plan on Energy Development,” to run from 2011 to 2015, proposes dealing with the problem of external dependence by constructing nuclear power plants. Lin Boqiang says the third generation plants that would be able to play a role in meeting China’s energy needs are still in the research phase, and could be a long way off widespread implementation.

Read the original Chinese article. 

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