New Publications: China SOE Paper: “Evolution of China’s Energy Institutions” (UofA China Institute)
March 16, 2013
The University of Alberta’s China Institute has published a new paper on Chinese SOEs entitled: The Evolution of China’s Energy Institutions (Y. Bao & G. Houlden authors).
Overview:
“The energy sector has played a vital role in the economy of the People’s Republic of China since 1949, and has drawn sustained close attention from the leadership of the Chinese state and business sector, particularly as China has gradually become more dependent on imported petroleum. The institutional settings of China’s energy sector have undergone a number of reforms and adjustments, which have generally followed the pattern of China’s broad administration reform movements.
The role of government in the energy sector has been transformed from a focus on highly centralized controls to a more market-oriented management approach, and then, more recently, back to a more centralized coordination of energy management. As China’s economic growth reshapes the global energy market, the institutional reforms in China’s energy sector will continue to receive attention from China’s international energy partners.
This paper offers a historical overview of China’s energy institutions (1949-2013) with a special focus on the oil and gas industry. In so doing, it divides the evolution of China’s energy institutions into four phases: 1) a highly centralized phase, 2) the transition from centralized planning to a market system, 3) a market-oriented management phase and 4) the phase of centralized coordination and supervision, all against a backdrop of China’s evolving energy security needs and China’s medium and long-term economic goals. The chart in the appendix of this paper will help clarify the evolution of China’s energy state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
China’s SOEs are taking a proactive role in positioning China abroad in quest of enhanced energy security by securing existing footholds in some locations and positioning in others for future considerations, which is evidenced by the China National Offshore Oil Corporation’s (CNOOC) $15.1 billion acquisition of Canada-based NEXEN Inc. in 2012. This study may also help contribute to a better understanding of the current broad debate over Chinese SOEs. While this paper does not tackle the issues regarding the independence of Chinese SOEs from the Chinese government, a better understanding of the institutional evolution of Chinese energy SOEs, as well as their growing influence in Chinese energy policy, can perhaps be a building block in a much more ambitious discussion.”
For a copy of the new paper see: The Evolution of China’s Energy Institutions.
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