A senior minister told a 2005 Fortune Global Forum panel in Beijing on Tuesday afternoon that China is seeking measures to solve domestic demand for energy, and constitutes no threat to the rest of the world.

"People usually regard China as an energy-consuming nation, but forget China is also an energy-producing nation," said Ma Kai, minister of the National Development and Reform Commission; China has abundant coal reserves that account for 76 percent of energy produced.

"Energy consumption is a result of industrialization," Ma said, emphasizing that in recent years, the government has gone to great lengths to optimize the country's energy structure, particularly in trying to lessen its reliance on oil. Last year, over 100 million tons of crude oil were imported.

Linda Cock, executive director of Royal Dutch/Shell Group, said "the Chinese government is now conscious of the importance of a diversified energy structure. It continues exploitation of domestic gas and will raise its proportion of natural gas from 3 to 10 percent."

She said there was still room for change, as natural gas constitutes 20 to 30 percent of energy used in some developed countries. Nuclear energy has also lagged behind, producing only 1 percent, whereas that in OECD nations is 10 percent, and the worldwide average is 17 percent.

"About 20 to 25 nuclear power stations are needed in China," she forecast, expressing hope for further cooperation.

William McDonough, chairman of China-US Center for Sustainable Development, laid more emphasis on solar energy.

"The whole world is now investing heavily in solar energy. China has abundant resources of solar power and its development will accelerate in the future," he said.

The Standing Committee of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC), the top legislature, has passed legislation on renewable resources to facilitate relevant research and development.

During the panel discussion, Cock warned that China's utilization of energy is very inefficient and urged for better use of resources.

Ma conceded that this was the case, and pledged to improve it through economic structural adjustment.

Over 70 percent of energy resources are used in industry. Industries like coking in particular consume a lot of energy and generate a large amount of pollution.

Ma said that measures are being planned to deal with these problems, through technical renovation, modifying scales of operation and using energy-consumption indicators as well as fiscal measures.

Other participants on the panel were Anne Lauvergeon, chairperson of the executive board of Areva, and Chen Tonghai, president of Sinopec.

(China.org.cn by staff reporter Tang Fuchun, May 18, 2005)