China pushes for regional energy club

URUMQI -- China has been actively pushing for the establishment of a semi-official multilateral platform for energy cooperation, particularly with its neighbors in central Asia, an industry official said Tuesday.

National Energy Administration official Wei Xiaowei said an "energy club" would allow Shanghai Cooperation Organization?members and observers to expand energy cooperation and provide guidance for enterprises.

Wei, who made the remarks at the second China-Eurasia Expo currently being held in northwest China's city of Urumqi, said the energy club would support all-round energy cooperation.

The SCO, founded in Shanghai in 2001, is made up of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The idea of establishing an energy club was first introduced in 2004, although SCO members have had diverging opinions on it, officials said at the expo.

Ayzada Seitniyazova, chief specialist of the Department of Foreign Economic Relations and Investment of SJSC Uzbekenergo, said Uzbekistan and China have maintained close cooperation in the energy sector, as many Chinese companies have worked on clean energy projects in Uzbekistan.

Olga Yudina, chief expert with Russia's Ministry of Energy, said there is a great deal of room for Russia-China energy cooperation under the SCO framework.