chinese economy

China 's Energy Policy and Regulation

Meeting the Challenge to Match Demand and Supply

In late 1990s the world economists had begun talking about Chinese economic miracle . Within a few decades , since 1970s when Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping commenced grandiose reforms aimed to transform a planned economy into free-market one , China accumulated power which enabled the country to become one of the determinative factors in contemporary civilisation evolution (Lin 1996 : 4 . Governed by doctrine of gradual growth China performed a breakthrough which definitely will have great effect upon history of the

21st century . Annual GDP growth 9 , even 11 in some years , dynamically developing economy , spurt in high-tech sphere at the expense of borrowings , investments and implementation of advanced foreign expertise , aggressively increasing goods export - here are showings of China 's miracle (Weidou Johansson 2004 : 1226

Such upgrowth stipulated heavy demand for energy to cover increasing industrial needs . Within current decade energy consumption in China is rising by 10 monthly (Smil 2003 : 32 , and Chinese energy sector experiences difficulties in coping with such demand (Shiu Lam 2004 49 . It is true also for electrical energy distribution . Old distribution stations were built nearby industrial facilities and more rarely in urban residential districts which now causes energy deficit in the latter (Xu 2004 : 172 . So , the more will be economic growth the more energy carriers will have to be imported to feed it . While in 2001 China consumed 9 ,8 of world energy , according to forecasts this quota will reach up to 14 by 2025 (Shiu Lam 2004 : 51 . Moreover , experts consider that it is consumption growth in China that will determine strategies of world petroleum industry development for near future (Smil 2003 : 167

That means Chinese government faces a great challenge to provide balance between power demand and supply . In this view state energy policy and legislative control take on special significance for facilitating successful implementation of economic reforms and achieving ambitious goals set by Deng Xiaoping in 1970s

The purpose of this study is to critically access effectiveness of current China 's energy policy and regulation and define the ways of their improvement . Toward this end it is important to realise to which extent the domestic regulatory environment in China fulfill its role of encouraging raise of the rate of energy production , increasing energy efficiency and facilitating energy conservation to scrutinise current state of various branches of Chinese energy sector and identify key policy factors of their modernisation and energy diversification and to find out directions of legislative framework improvement aimed at meeting the challenge of keeping balance between energy demand and supply

China 's Energy Industry : Catching up with Soaring Demand

China is the second in world rank of energy consumers (behind only USA (Xu 2004 : 164 . Especially fast increase in energy manufacture and spending has came about as a result of the economic reforms of 1970-80s which embodied in speedy industrialisation (Smil 2003 : 16 Industrialisation has generated soaring energy demand to meet increasing industry and business needs as...