| The People's Republic of China (China) is the world's most populous country and the second largest energy consumer (after the United States). Production and consumption of coal, its dominant fuel, is the highest in the world. Rising oil demand and imports have made China a significant factor in world oil markets. China also surpassed Japan as the world's second-largest petroleum consumer in 2003.
All information contained in this report is the best available as of July 2004 and is subject to change.
China is the world’s largest coal producer and second largest electricity producer. Coal is China’s primary energy source with 1,890 million tons of standard coal used in 2003.
Coal Industry
China’s reserves of high quality coal are estimated at 5,059.2 billion tons, and are found mostly in north, northwest, northeast, east, and southwest China. In 2003, China’s raw coal production totaled 1,880 million tons.
Power Industry
In 2003, however, the Chinese government has approved 30 major new electric power projects, with a total of around 22 gigawatts (GW) of capacity. With the surge in economic growth in 2003 came a surge in electirc power demand, which has outpaced previous demand forecasts, leading to a shortage of generating capacity and even load-shedding in some areas. A shortage of rainfall in some areas in 2003 and early 2004 has worsened this problem.
Petroleum Industry
China was the world's second largest consumer of petroleum products in 2003, surpassing Japan for the first time, with total demand of 5.56 million barrels per day (bbl/d). China's oil demand is projected by EIA to reach 12.8 million bbl/d by 2025, with net imports of 9.4 million bbl/d. As the source of around 40% of world oil demand growth over the past four years, Chinese oil demand already is a very significant factor in world oil markets.
China’s rapid oil economic growth has outstripped its crude oil production and China has imported crude oil since the mid-1990s.
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