China's energy supply has grown rapidly over the past five years thanks to increased central government investment in the infrastructure of the energy and transport sectors.

The State Development and Reform Commission reported that China's coal output in 2005 surged to 2.1 billion tons, doubling the output in 2000.

China's electricity generation capacity also increased during the 2001-2005 period, according to the commission. In 2005, China generated 2.5 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity, 80 percent more than in 2000.

Crude oil output maintained an annual growth rate of 7.4 percent in the period of 2001-2005, with the crude oil output in 2005 topping 180 million tons.

In the past five years, China also accelerated the exploration of renewable energy resources like hydroelectric power, wind power, solar energy and biological resources, a key step to solving the problem of energy shortages and realizing sustained development in China.

Improved infrastructure in the transport sector has also helped boost China's transport capacity. The commission said by the end of 2005, the total length of railtracks in operation in China had reached 75,000 kilometers, 6,000 kilometers more than in 2000.

The total length of China's roads also expanded to 1.95 million kilometers by the end of 2005, 40,000 kilometers of which are expressways.

In addition, China's air routes totaled 2.05 million kilometers over the past five years and the length of gas and oil pipelines totaled 38,000 kilometers.

Some key construction projects, including the Qinghai-Tibet Railway on the country's highest plateau and the 4,000-kilometer west-to-east gas transmission pipeline, have also been completed in the past five years.

Source: Xinhua