Xiong Guangkai, director of the Institute for International Strategic Studies of China, said in a recent article that China had made a plan for the first-phase construction of four strategic oil reserve bases in 2004.

 

The oil reserve base in Zhenhai region of Zhejiang Province has been basically completed at present and will be put into operation by the end of this year. The other three are scheduled to be finished in the next two years.

 

Xiong pointed out that China is both the second largest energy producer and consumer in the world. Its total energy output is high but the per capita quantity is comparatively small, not even half of the world's average.

 

China's energy consumption kept increasing along with the economic growth in recent years, and the consumption is quite strong in a period of accelerating industrialization and urbanization.

 

As the economic scale expands, energy consumption will maintain a rapid growth, which will render great pressure on energy supply. Hence the demand and supply conflict will exist for a long time.

 

The Chinese government is taking a series of policies and measures to solve the energy security problem, a strategic issue that will affect the national security. It has elevated energy saving and reduction of energy consumption to the level of basic national policy and given them top priority in China's energy strategy.

 

The 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010) put forward some energy-related objectives, such as to build a "resource-economic society" and reduce 20% of energy consumption in per unit GDP during this period.

 

China will carry out the strategy of oil supply diversification and exert greater efforts in substitute energy source development.

 

In order to realize diversified oil supply, China will raise the quotas of oil imports from Russia, Central Asia, Africa, Latin-America and other regions in addition to maintaining oil imports from the Middle East.

 

(Chinanews.cn June 1, 2006)