China’s ‘Supergrid’ Gives Xi Buffer Against Energy Shocks
China is keen to blunt impacts of a shortage of oil and gas experienced by neighbors like Japan and South Korea.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/BloombergChina’s long-running effort to build out its energy sources is getting fresh momentum from the war in the Middle East, reinforcing a strategy that’s sent grid operators on a bond-selling binge and funneled hundreds of billions of dollars into the market.
The world’s No. 2 economy has become one of the biggest investors in power grids globally, spending heavily in recent years on infrastructure to absorb more renewables and curb its reliance on imports. Financing that growth has turned state-owned grid operators into the country’s biggest bond issuers, with sales hitting unprecedented levels and yields near historic lows.