US China Cooperation – Energy Security

China’s unrelenting high rate of economic growth has been a key factor in the growth of global energy and raw material demand and higher oil prices as China has emerged as the second largest consumer of imported oil, behind the United States and surpassing Japan. So far, rather than relying on the global oil market, China seems to be pursuing a “nationalist” approach toward energy, with Chinese companies buying oil fields and forging political agreements with nations around the world in an effort to secure oil supplies to fuel its high growth rate.

To avoid strategic competition for energy resources and potential U.S.-China conflict in the coming decade and beyond, the United States and China need to forge a common approach to energy security that maintains adequate energy supplies, open access to energy resources, and low energy prices, while also encouraging development and expanded use of new and renewable energy resources.