China can ensure energy supplies to power its fast growing
economy despite oil shortages reported in some coastal areas as a
result of surging oil price hikes in the world market, a senior
economic official said on Friday.
"The country will definitely ensure the supply of oil products,"
Zhu Hongren, deputy department director in charge of economic
operation under the National Development and Reform Commission
(NDRC), told a press conference.
The production of refined oil products in China still meets
demand despite regional shortfalls triggered by rising
international prices, he said.
Zhu said the government would closely monitor domestic refined
oil markets and take measures to secure the supply of refined oil
products.
He added that the supply of coal - accounting for the lion's
share of China's energy mix - can also be guaranteed in the
winter.
The commission this week raised the prices of gasoline, diesel
oil and aviation kerosene by 500 yuan (US$66) per ton, a rise of
around 8 percent.
The average retail price of gasoline now stands at 5,980 yuan
(US$800) per ton, and diesel is 5,520 yuan (US$740) per ton.
Zhu said that securing market supply of refined oil products
would top the commission's agenda for the next two months.
He said that government departments were "actively" deliberating
upon a pricing mechanism for refined oil products. "We need to take
into account a number of factors to release the mechanism. Proper
timing is necessary to avoid drastic fluctuations," he said.
To increase oil supplies and maintain domestic market stability,
China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and China Petroleum and
Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) ordered their refineries to work at
full capacity. CNPC pushed up its processed oil output by nearly 10
percent year-on-year in the third quarter.
Zhu said China should continue stemming rapid growth in high
energy-consuming sectors and closing factories with excessive
production capacity.
"We should strictly implement industry policy to stop new
energy-hungry projects," said Zhu.
The government has already worked out plans to close factories
in more than 10 energy-hungry industries including electricity,
steel and iron, construction materials and coal mining, in order to
meet its energy conservation targets.
In April, 344 steel and iron plants in 10 provinces were shut
down as part of a program that will continue until 2010.
Xia Nong, deputy head of the commission's Industrial Policy
Department, said at the news briefing that real estate posted the
fastest gains in the first nine months, with its growth rate being
2 percentage points higher than that for the entire service
sector.
The fixed asset investment of the service sector reached 4.28
trillion yuan (US$573.7 billion), representing an increase of 24
percent, 0.5 percentage points higher than the figure registered in
the first half. Investment in the property market surged 30.3
percent to 1.68 trillion yuan (US$225.2 billion).
Housing prices in 70 large- and medium-sized cities rose by 8.9
percent year on year in September, hitting a new high despite the
government's efforts to curb surging property prices.
(Xinhua News Agency November 3, 2007)
