China's Search for Energy Security: Emerging Dilemmas

As the world's fastest growing energy consumer, China has attracted enormous attention over the last few years. This paper looks at the factors influencing China's policies and strategies in its search for energy security and examines whether China can be persuaded to adopt a more integrative stance with respect to energy. It argues that China's pursuit of a policy to secure preferential access to oil and gas resources in politically unstable states could lead to heightened competition with other major importing states and to geopolitical tensions. Instead, China needs to work with other consumers and the international community to solve energy-related problems.