China Energy Future Project

The CSIS China Energy Future Project provides a comprehensive analysis of how China is trying and will continue to try to meet its ever-growing energy needs. China’s expanding economy requires increasing oil volumes. With tighter world oil production and higher oil prices, China appears in the world oil market as a key player with the potential to reorganize the market through new alliances and the setting of new rules.
 
Working with the Freeman Chair in China Studies, the project held a half-day conference on March 23, 2005. Energy experts and government officials gathered to discuss China’s escalating demand for energy in its transportation, industrial, and electricity sectors. The conference was organized in three panels to cover the major issues:  what is the status of energy use in China and how reliable are the numbers; China’s energy challenges especially where it will seek additional supplies or new alternatives, and geopolitical implications of China’s energy search. 

Following the conference, Robert Ebel, Chairman of the CSIS Energy Security and Climate Change Program, wrote a thorough analysis of China's energy supply and demand needs. The volume called China’s Energy Future: The Middle Kingdom Seeks Its Place in the Sun, published in November 2005, is available through CSIS’s publication office. The publication describes the history and evolution of China’s energy demand and looks at today’s situation. Bob Ebel explores both local and international activities of the Chinese national oil companies as well as China’s energy policy which focuses on ensuring supply security. He also looks at major issues confronting China which could affect economic growth and energy policy, including agriculture and water supply issues and the rural-to-urban population transition.