Premier Wen Jiabao on Tuesday said China's energy strategy was
to rely mainly on domestic supply and that the country had been
able to meet 90 percent of its total energy needs.
In a speech entitled "Enhance Cooperation to Make Win-win
Progress" at the 2006 China-Europe business summit, Wen elaborated
on China's strategy on energy.
Wen said the main thrust of China's energy strategy was to rely
mainly on domestic supply, laying equal emphasis on conservation
and development, while giving top priority to conservation.
The Premier added that China would promote technological
progress and pursue a new path of industrialization to ease the
shortage in energy supply.
"China is both a major energy consumer and a major energy
producer," he said.
"Since the 1990s, China has always been able to meet over 90
percent of its total energy needs by itself," he added.
According to Wen, China was rich in coal resources. Two-thirds
of China's hydropower remained untapped, and the use of renewable
energy such as nuclear energy, wind energy, solar energy and
biological gas had just started.
The Premier also said China would work even harder to save
energy. Over the coming five years, China's per unit GDP energy
consumption would be cut by 20 percent, he said.
"This is no easy task, but we are confident of meeting the
goal," he said. In the meantime, China was also actively seeking
international cooperation to jointly safeguard global energy
security, he added.
The 2006 China-Europe business summit was held here on Tuesday.
Some 500 senior business leaders attended the summit to discuss
strategies for boosting economic and technological cooperation
between China and the European Union.
(Xinhua News Agency September 13, 2006)
