Five Issues of China’s Energy Development During 14th Five-Year Plan Period

The Blue Book of Energy: Report on The Frontiers of China's Energy Development (2021) was recently released by the Institute of Industrial Economics of CASS and the Social Sciences Academic Press.

Energy demand will see a rise during the 14th Five-Year Plan period as economic growth resumes, the report says. Under the influence of factors such as COVID-19 and carbon peaking & carbon neutrality goals, China's energy development will face some issues. First, the regional imbalance between energy supply and demand will continue. In 2021, after the global epidemic was effectively brought under control, the strong economic recovery led to a rapid rebound in energy demand, and the supply of some energy products could not meet the demand change immediately. Second, the competition in energy science is increasingly intense, and there are technological weaknesses in China's energy transformation. Third, the construction of a new power system is an arduous task. At present, the energy structure of most countries in the world has shifted to oil and gas. China's new power system is in face of difficulties in terms of technology maturity and commercial application cost. Fourth, energy security risks are diversifying. The pattern of mismatch between energy supply and demand will be further noticeable as the productivity of energy resources in China is gradually concentrated in preponderant resource areas. Fifth, amid the high price of raw materials, the cost of energy supply and transformation has grown.