| Publication |
2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Ensuring access to foreign oil has lost its dominance in Beijing's energy-policy debates. Ensuring access to ever larger quantities of foreign oil has been a focus of debate in China since the late 1990s, when the country's growing oil-import dependence became an inescapable reality. Research institutes and advisers to the Chinese leadership had been preoccupied with identifying the risks associated with China's foreign-oil supplies and devising policies to mitigate them. Yet, as the debate unfolded, it became clear that securing oil supplies was only part of the problem. The overall balance of energy supply and demand, the impact of state-controlled pricing and administrative intervention on the domestic market, and the weakness of institutions governing the energy industry came to be seen as problems that were equally, if not more, pressing. Between 2000 and 2004, a series of events highlighted various aspects of China's energy insecurity and, combined with a change of leadership in Beijing, ultimately led to a shift in energy-policy choices.
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