Ukraine War Sharpens China’s Energy Priorities as Prices Spike
- Government has loosened restraints on coal and steel output
- Beijing to pursue targets for clean energy and peak emissions
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Higher commodity prices are crashing over China’s economy after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, intensifying Beijing’s focus on energy security just as lawmakers gather for their annual policy-setting meeting.
The world’s recovery from the pandemic had already launched commodities prices to new highs and forced China’s government to rethink how it balances short-term energy needs with its long-term aim of delivering a carbon neutral society. Now, the war in Ukraine is putting extra pressure on the world’s biggest importer of oil and gas, and an economy that relies on coal to fuel its industrial base.