Energy sector turns crisis into opportunities

In Chinese, the word "crisis" reflects both "risks" and "opportunities". China's energy sector has successfully turned its adversity into opportunity while resisting the international financial crisis and giving people a profound enlightenment.

When the crisis arrived, China's energy demand was obviously weakened. From June 2006 forward, energy supply in the country was tense for six straight years, but there was negative growth in 2008 that extended to June 2009. Consequently, all refined oil depots were filled, and a portion of the oil wells had to shut down for the first time in decades.

Daily electric power consumption was 8.5 billion kilowatt-hours in the last quarter of 2008 due to the financial crisis. However, daily electricity use reached 11 billion kWh after November 2009 and, in the first 15 days of this year, daily consumption reached the maximum of 12 billion kWh. This provides strong evidence of rapid economic recovery.