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Alice Li

China has consolidated its energy security through a targeted strategy of diversifying imports, and US President Donald Trump’s embrace of fossil fuel production with a “drill, baby, drill” mentality could serve to lower global prices – potentially good news for China as the world’s largest importer of crude and natural gas – according to an influential energy expert in Beijing.
Meanwhile, Beijing should take actions to address an uneven distribution of energy resources in the domestic market, advised Jin Zhijun, dean of the Institute of Energy at the prestigious Peking University and a deputy of China’s top legislature.
“We have built a robust energy-security system to guard against unexpected events that could disrupt the energy supply,” Jin told the Post at the weekend.
China imported 553 million tonnes of crude oil last year, mainly from Saudi Arabia and Russia, compared with domestic production of 212.8 million tonnes. It also bought 183.1 billion cubic metres (6.47 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas from overseas, mainly from Qatar, Australia and Russia, versus last year’s domestic production of 246.4 billion cubic metres.
“Our imports of oil and natural gas are diversified across multiple countries, ensuring we are not dependent on any single nation or route, which, from my perspective, makes the supply quite secure,” he said.
Moreover, the Trump factor is not entirely negative for China’s energy system, Jin added, as his decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement and his support for fossil fuels could help curb the rapid rise in prices.
This would not only stimulate local economic growth and create jobs but … enhance the local capacity to absorb green energy
Jin Zhijun, Peking University
In response to fresh tariffs introduced by the US, China imposed retaliatory tariffs of 10 to 15 per cent last month on products such as coal, crude oil and light natural gas from the US.
China has also been accelerating the development of renewables – a move that is also in line with its goals to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.
But despite the relatively secure energy landscape, Jin pointed out that challenges remain due to the uneven distribution of energy resources.
He suggested that China should relocate some energy-intensive facilities or enterprises from coastal areas to central and western regions – which are abundant in renewable energy resources – to help address power-transmission bottlenecks caused by grid-system constraints and limited energy-storage capacity.
“This would not only stimulate local economic growth and create jobs but, more importantly, enhance the local capacity to absorb green energy, alleviating the strain on long-distance, cross-regional power grid transmission,” Jin said.


With a strong push by the government in the development of renewable energy, electricity generated from renewable resources in 2024 surged by 56.5 per cent from 2020, according to the National Energy Administration. Renewable energy accounted for 35 per cent of the total electricity generated in the past year, up from 29 per cent in 2020.
As of 2024, solar and wind have become China’s second- and third-largest power sources, respectively, trailing only thermal power.
However, the rapid growth of green energy has overwhelmed the grid system, leaving it unable to fully transmit all of the electricity generated.
As pointed out by Jin, amid the rapid development of the total capacity of renewable energy, high-voltage transmission lines are not yet sufficiently efficient.
Furthermore, there is a critical need to accelerate the development of energy-storage technology, particularly large-scale storage systems, to stabilise electricity output, given the inherent variability of renewable-energy generation caused by its heavy dependence on natural conditions, Jin added.
To boost its energy-storage sector, China unveiled a plan in February that includes measures to step up the development of a slew of next-generation battery technologies and create a small group of leading companies in the field.


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In response to fresh tariffs introduced by the US, China imposed retaliatory tariffs of 10 to 15 per cent last month on products such as coal, crude oil and light natural gas from the US. Photo: AFP

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China has taken necessary steps to ensure ‘we are not dependent on any single nation or route’ for energy needs, top legislature deputy says


China has taken necessary steps to ensure ‘we are not dependent on any single nation or route’ for energy needs, top legislature deputy says.


China’s energy supply ‘quite secure’ amid diversified imports, expert contends

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}China has taken necessary steps to ensure ‘we are not dependent on any single nation or route’ for energy needs, top legislature deputy says

China has taken necessary steps to ensure ‘we are not dependent on any single nation or route’ for energy needs, top legislature deputy says