China’s Development Strategy and Energy Security

This chapter analyses both global and regional approaches to solving problems of energy security and ecological imbalance by specifically addressing the problems of China’s energy security. The growing energy dependence of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has become a major concern for both economic and national security policymakers in that country. The ambitious goal of modernization of the economy along the lines of the other newly industrialized economies (NIEs) of Asia has succeeded only too well, and it is difficult to reorient economic priorities. China’s remarkable growth during the last 25 years has led to a rapid increase in energy demand, and its hunger for energy is apparently insatiable. There are, of course, both economic and ecological aspects of this insatiable demand for energy. There are also security issues that exercise the Chinese leadership increasingly. In this chapter, I examine the measures that China is taking to achieve energy security and the motivations behind these measures. I also look at China’s investment in overseas oil exploration and development projects, interest in transnational oil pipelines, plans for a strategic petroleum reserve, expansion of refineries to process crude supplies from the Middle East, development of the natural gas industry, and gradual opening of onshore drilling areas to foreign oil companies. The key question is: can China hope to achieve both equitable growth and energy security over the next two decades? I suggest the kind of mathematical modelling and political economy analysis that may be necessary to answer this two-pronged question rigorously. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.