China Grapples with Its Energy Challenges

China’s economic expansion is delivering impressive benefits at home and around the world, even as it sharpens and multiplies energy-related challenges. While China relies mainly on domestically mined coal, it has become a major presence on world energy markets, attracting unaccustomed attention.

Domestic environmental damages are mounting, exacerbating inequalities among regions and economic groups, and progress in bringing down energy efficiency has slowed, spurring vigorous new efforts to raise efficiency. Top leaders are calling for rapid evolution of legal and regulatory institutions, but questions remain about implementation. Whether and how well China deals with its dilemmas will have deep consequences for the rest of the world—which therefore has a large stake in its success.

In this presentation, Jonathan Sinton, China Program Manager at the International Energy Agency, explored some of the predicaments in which China finds itself, evaluate the country's approaches to tackling them, and examine the roles of international co-operation, with examples from the IEA's collaborations with China.