Country to diversify energy structure

Premier Li Keqiang called on Thursday for promotion of key technologies for cleaner energy and international cooperation to achieve a diversified and stable energy supply that supports the country's economic development.

The premier, also head of the National Energy Commission, spoke while presiding over the commission meeting that approved the Guideline for Energy Development for the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20). No details were available immediately.

Faced with profound adjustment of the international energy supply and new revolutionary technologies, China should prioritize its energy structure and overcome shortcomings in infrastructure and key technologies to improve competitiveness and build a cleaner, more secure and more efficient energy system with fewer carbon emissions, Li said. These will better support sustainable and stable development, he said.

Li said coal should be utilized in a cleaner and more efficient way. Renewable resources such as hydropower and solar energy should be expanded along with the secure utilization of nuclear power, he added.

Li also called on consolidating mutual cooperation with traditional partners and prioritizing trade structures as the Belt and Road Initiative unfolds to enhance cooperation in energy infrastructure and production capacity.

The commission was established in 2010 under the State Council to coordinate the country's energy policies. Li urged transformation of the country's model for energy production and consumption by raising the portion of clean energy and low-carbon development when the commission first met in April 2014.

The country was projected to produce energy equal to 3.58 billion metric tons of standard coal equivalent and import 700 million tons of standard coal equivalent this year, said Neur Bekri, director of the National Energy Administration.

Coal accounts for more than 60 percent of the country's energy consumption, causing air pollution, exemplified by the ongoing smog in northern China in winter.

China's reliance on coal and energy imports lead to pollution and a potential threat to national security as the global market for energy fluctuates dramatically, said Huang Qunhui, director of the Institute of Industrial Economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"Diversified consumption and new technologies will be the best solutions," Huang said.