Ensuring energy security a key task, official says

The annual energy production capacity in China is expected to exceed 4.6 billion metric tons of standard coal by 2025, said Ren Jingdong, deputy director of the National Energy Administration and member of the administration's CPC leadership group, during a news conference on Monday. 

Ensuring energy security is always the primary task of energy work in China, the major energy producer and consumer, he said.

The government will give full play to the role of coal as a "ballast stone" with supportive role in maintaining domestic energy security, while enhancing oil and gas exploration and development, Ren said.

China will also further improve its coal and petroleum reserve system while stepping up the construction of liquefied natural gas terminals and other facilities to make sure the energy supplies remain reasonably resilient, he said.

China is also working on building an energy supply system for clean energy, including hydropower, wind power, solar power and nuclear power. It is also further optimizing its energy mix by building massive wind and solar power facilities in the country's Gobi and other desert areas.

The government will also continue promoting the construction of energy security monitoring and warning capacity, to further enhance our capacity in emergency response and disaster relief, Ren said.

zhengxin@chinadaily.com.cn