Abstract
This study aims to examine how China’s energy security has changed over 30 years of reform and the opening period. It constructs a 4-As quantitative evaluation framework—the availability of energy resources, the applicability of technology, the acceptability by society, and the affordability of energy resources. The quantitative results show that China’s energy security was at its best during the sixth FYP period (1981–1985), but then deteriorated until it hit higher levels between 1995 and 2005. However, it was still lower than the level reached during the sixth FYP period. During the eleventh FYP period (2006–2010), the energy security situation deteriorated again. Differences in policy priority over the study period appear to affect the country’s energy security status. This study suggests that China needs to develop renewable energy resources on a large scale and pay more attention to emissions control to reverse the downward trend in energy security.
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