BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for urgent planning and construction of a new energy system to safeguard the country’s energy security, weeks into the Iran war that has triggered global energy shocks.
The leader of the world’s second-largest economy also emphasised hydropower development and ecological protection, while urging the safe and orderly expansion of nuclear power, according to state broadcaster CCTV on Monday.
“The Party Central Committee has gained a profound grasp of global energy development trends and made major decisions by advancing the new energy security strategy in depth,” he said, referring to the ruling Communist Party’s centre of authority.
Xi did not directly mention the war in his remarks cited by CCTV.
The United States and Iran have been weighing a Pakistani-brokered plan that could end their five-week-old conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Analysts have pointed out that China is relatively better-positioned to absorb the higher oil prices.
Coal accounts for more than half of its energy mix, while it has ample oil stockpiles and imports via the Strait of Hormuz represent only around 5 percent of total energy consumption.
“The path we took in being the first to develop wind and solar power has now proven to be forward-looking. At the same time, coal-fired power remains the foundation of our energy system and must continue to play its supporting role,” Xi said.
President Xi said the country must stay committed to clean, low-carbon development.
“A greener, more diversified and resilient new energy system will provide a strong guarantee for China’s energy security and economic development,” Xi said as quoted by CCTV.
Last July, China began construction of what will be the world’s largest hydropower dam on the eastern rim of the Tibetan Plateau.
Construction on a solar thermal power plant by China General Nuclear Power Group at an altitude of 4,550 metres in Tibet has also begun on Monday, according to state Xinhua News Agency.
