To better deal with its energy shortage, the Chinese government has set up a national energy office, headed by Ma Kai, minister of the State Development and Reform Commission (SDRC), according to the report from the China Business News.

The former Ministry of Energy dissolved in 1993 during a large- scale reform on governmental departments. The exploration, production, transportation and sales of energy are now handled separately by the SDRC, the Ministry of Land and Resources, the Ministry of Commerce and the State Administration of Production Safety.

The national energy office is affiliated with the newly- established national energy leading panel, which is directed by Premier Wen Jiabao, according to the newspaper.

The leading panel is composed of the premier, vice premiers, SDRC minister, foreign minister, minister of finance and minister of commerce.

Ma Fucai, the former ministerial-level general manager of the China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) is now the deputy director of the national energy office, which includes 24 members.

Routine jobs of the national energy office include keeping up on energy security issues, sending early-warnings for major energy problems, advising the leading panel and organizing research on national energy strategy, energy exploration,energy economical use, energy security and energy international cooperation, said a SDRC official who declined to give his name.

"The current energy managerial system will continue to block China's economic growth unless a special ministerial-level department is founded to unify the energy management across the country," said Li Lianji, researcher of the Shanxi Provincial Academy of Social Sciences.

Wang Guangde, secretary-general to the China Coal Industrial Association expressed the hope that the Ministry of Energy will be re-established. He said the new energy office is just an interim department that cannot handle the long-run energy shortage.

China's need of energy has soared as the economy has grown. The shortages of coal, electric power, petroleum and shipping capacity are one of the biggest challenges that China faces in its development.

China is now the world's largest coal consumer and third crude oil importer. Its energy demand rockets as the gross domestic product (GDP) continues to grow at more than 9 percent annually.

The energy in China is not being used efficiently. The amount of energy China used to create one US dollar worth of GDP is three times that of the United States, and 6.6 times that in Japan. China's electric power shortage may climb to more than 30 million kilowatts this summer, its greatest ever, according to figures released by the State Grid Corp. of China.

Source: Xinhua