A draft of China’s first energy law is likely to be submitted to senior officials later this year, following international consultation on its contents, an official Chinese newspaper reported on Saturday

BEIJING, China; March 5, 2007.- The proposed legislation will be sent to China’s State Council, or government cabinet, and an international meeting will discuss the draft in April, the China Daily reported, citing energy officials.

The law “will be the overarching one for the country’s energy industry and trade,” the paper said, citing He Yongjian from the office of the National Energy Leading Group. It will address energy planning, exploration, conservation, reserves and technological innovation, He told the paper.

China, the world second-biggest energy user after the United States, has seen explosive growth in consumption of oil, coal and power as its economy has boomed.

China’s consumption of crude oil and refined products rose an estimated 9.3 percent to 346.55 million tonnes in 2006 from the previous year, the commerce ministry said last month, a far faster rate than most foreign analysts had estimated.

But the country does not have a separate ministry of energy, and He said policy makers have been grappling with how to better coordinate energy regulation. They have been considering “whether to have a unified national energy administration,” he said.

He said a team of experts began working on the proposed energy law early last year. The report did not specify when the proposed legislation would take effect.

(Reuters)

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