Launched in 2019 the OIES China Energy Research Programme, is a center of analytical excellence offering insights into the factors that inform China’s energy policies and choices and their pivotal role in global energy markets.
China is the world’s second largest economy, biggest importer of crude oil, the fastest growing consumer of natural gas as well as the world’s top coal producer and emitter of CO2. The country is endowed with vast reserves of oil, gas and coal all of which it aims to develop in order to enhance its energy security, but, it is also seeking to spearhead a technological revolution in support of its energy transition.
In light of its voracious appetite for energy, its domestic resource potential and its technological ambitions, the way in which China chooses to develop its domestic resource base, consume energy and engage with global markets is of extreme importance to producers, consumers and traders of energy. But the country’s command economy, alongside the dominance of state-owned companies still inform policy design and implementation and are key to understanding the evolution of China’s energy mix and markets.
The China Energy Programme at OIES delves into these developments and offers insights into the factors that inform China’s energy policies and choices.
The Programme is grateful to its Sponsors for their support, without which its research would not be possible.
Research is carried out by the programme staff in close coordination with the other OIES programmes and in collaboration with leading researchers and institutes in China and the West. Research will be disseminated via a dedicated research paper series, energy comments, sponsors’ visits, and specialised events.
For information about the programme and questions, please email: Michal Meidan
In this podcast from the China Energy Programme, Anders Hove talks to OIES Senior Research Fellow Philip Andrews-Speed about his two papers for the recent Oxford Energy Forum on nuclear power entitled “The role of nuclear power in China’s energy security and low-carbon energy transition” and “Will Russian and Chinese nuclear reactor exports assist in […]
In 2020, the Chinese coal chemical industry processed nearly one quarter of national coal throughput, and accounted for about 5.4 per cent of national CO2 emissions. Yet the coal chemicals’ industry ability to limit oil and gas imports is appealing to the Chinese leadership in the context of rising energy security concerns amid geopolitical tensions. […]
Since the end of 2023, policy documents in China have increasingly highlighted environmental protection and have either set tighter and more specific targets or called out the need for faster progress towards existing goals. 2024 also brings three important catalysts for accelerated environmental policy. First, the 14th Five Year Plan (FYP) interim report, published in […]
China’s steel sector matters in the global green transition. Decarbonising global industry is the next frontier in the transition to greener economies. Steel production accounts for 7% of global emissions. More than half of the world’s steel is produced in China. However, China’s steel production has some of the highest carbon intensities in the world. […]
The coal chemical industry utilises coal as both energy and feedstock to produce gases, liquids and solids, which are then synthesised into various fuels and chemicals. In China, it is generally classified into two categories: traditional versus modern coal chemicals. In 2020, the Chinese coal chemical industry processes near one quarter of national coal throughput, […]
The development of China’s solar photovoltaics sector may be one of the best witnesses of China’s economic rise and globalization. Having benefited from a free cross-border flow of talent, capital, and technology, China’s solar PV sector took over decades of Western expertise and began to dominate the global market in as short as a decade. […]