Energy partnership announced for BRI

The Belt and Road Energy Partnership was officially established in Beijing on Thursday with a ceremony attended by energy ministers, ambassadors to China and high-level representatives of energy authorities from 30 participating countries and five observer countries.

On Oct 18, 2018, the Belt and Road Energy Ministerial Conference was held in Suzhou, Jiangsu province and President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the conference, stressing energy cooperation as a key area for the BRI and calling for strengthened energy cooperation within the framework of the BRI to promote the establishment of the Belt and Road energy partnership.

Zhang Jianhua, head of China's National Energy Administration, said BREP was a pragmatic action in response to President Xi's call and an important measure to contribute to the initiative.

The BREP will adhere to the principles of cooperation and shared benefit, promote mutually beneficial energy cooperation, help countries and regions jointly solve problems facing energy development, achieve shared development and prosperity and make positive contributions to the building of a community with a shared future for humanity, he said.

In the six years since the BRI was proposed, cooperation in the energy field has achieved fruitful results, with a large number of landmark energy projects successfully implemented that have achieved good economic and social benefits to people in all countries and regions involved, he said.

Two consultation meetings were held in March and April, where participating countries reached consensus on important issues related to building the BREP, and the numbers of the participating countries also increased fast.

The Cooperation Principles and Concrete Actions of the Belt and Road Energy Partnership were also released during the event.

According to the document, the Belt and Road energy ministerial conferences will be held every other year, and training projects for energy ministers and energy cooperation talent training will be initiated as needed.

The BREP will promote policy exchanges and cooperation intention communication among members, build bilateral and multilateral project cooperation and technology exchange platforms, to promote pragmatic cooperation in the energy field.