China becomes world's 3rd largest energy producer: Official

In 2004, China's gross energy output reached 1.97 bln tons of SCE, representing 11 percent of the world's gross output. China has become the 3rd largest energy producers in the world, next to the US and Russia.

China's gross installed capacity reached 440 mln kilowatts, ranking the 2nd in the world. The newly added installed capacity in 2005 will be 50.5 mln kilowatts. The installed capacity added in 2004 and 2005 has exceeded 100 mln kilowatts, which sets a new record in electric power development history, vice director of the State Development and Reform Commission Zhang Guobao said at the "summit forum on China's energy strategy".

Zhang said China must stay alert to the viewpoint that advocates electric power supply must satisfy excessive economic growth's demands regardless of subjective and objective conditions. According to Zhang, the views that only urge power supply to satisfy economic growth's demands but fail to take economic structure and changing the extensive development mode into consideration are not helpful to healthy development of economy.

By People's Daily Online