China,
US must cooperate to ensure secure energy supply: ambassador
AFP
CHICAGO
Petroleumworld.com 01 18 06
China and the United States must cooperate to ensure a secure
supply of energy and to find alternatives to oil, China's ambassador
to the United States said Tuesday.
"Energy is an increasingly serious issue for the world,"
Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong told the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations.
"China and the United States should cooperate closer to find
ways to maintain a continuous supply, relatively stable price
and a safe shipping corridor while exploring the development of
green and renewable energy."
Zhou said China's goal was to rely on domestic energy supplies
for the bulk of its needs, noting that China had vast reserves
of coal and that he expects it will become the country's main
source of energy in the future.
"Ninety-four percent of our energy needs were met by domestic
production so I think we will keep that around 90 percent,"
he said.
"China will continue to import oil but the majority of the
increase of oil imports is dropping. So that is to say China will
not rely on oil for its energy needs."
Zhou noted that China was working closely with US-based companies
such as Chevron and ConocoPhillips to develop its domestic oil
reserves and described China's relationship with the US as "a
picture of cooperation" rather than a "confrontation"
over scarce resources.
"The best way to make the prices more stable is to work together
to find new sources of energy, particularly to use coal in a way
that is more environmentally friendly," he said.
Zhou also said the United States must play a more active role
in rectifying the trade imbalance between the two countries.
He said calls by US politicians to devalue the yuan by two digits
were not "reasonable" or "rational."
"Down the road, eventually the Chinese currency will be freely
convertible based on supply and demand of the market," he
said. "We are working on that and making steady progress
to our goal, but it can't happen overnight."
Zhou said the United States must work to expand its exports to
China and noted that 50 to 60 percent of the products China exports
to the US are manufactured by American companies.
AFP
01/17/06
Copyright
© 2006 AFP. All rights reserved
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