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ARTICLE FOR WEN WEI PO
DRAFT
quently
I am immensely impressed at the early progress made by the Chinese people
Peking in the task of restructuring their economy. During a visit to Beijing
in November 1983, I was made aware of the difficulties which beset the
plans to achieve significant growth, yet in a relatively short time,
there are signs that economic changes are beginning to take effect.
great Despite this laudible achievement there are still hurdles to be overcome.
History records that development of many of the world's leading industrial
nations has been partly dependent on the extent to which energy resources
the can be located and efficiently harnessed. China is
aware of her diffultes the fores
limitations in this area and recognises that a constraint on further
economic development could well be her present energy shortage. Accord-
ing to a World Bank report, China's goal for increased industrial and
agricultural output by the year 2000 can only be met by raising energy
availability to 3 billion tonnes of coal equivalent. In more meaningful
terms this equates to 1,200 million tonnes coal; 200 million tonnes crude
oil and 240 million KW of electricity. Fortunately China's natural
potential for achieving these levels is considerable but a major hindrance
may face in this of a
degritet til de fio thetical diffis
is likely to be the lack of infrastructurefas particularly reflected by limited technology, a scarcity of skilled personnel and inadequate trans-
port systems By contrast, Britain's predominance in western Europe
across a wide spectrum of energy activity, including the highly important
subject of energy conservation, gives UK industry unrivalled experience
at the forefront of energy technology and is thus well qualified to con-
tribute meaningfully to China's programme of energy reform. Energy
related firms in the UK are ready to invest in China and transfer tech-
nology to China and there are already encouraging signs of co-operation.
China's greatest immediate need is electric power generation with a 3-fold
increase forecast over the next 15 years. Much of this will be achieved
by increasing the number of conventional thermal power stations and in