CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VIII (2) ContEurVIII2 | Page 80

CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VIII (2)
 First, although imported oil plays a crucial role in China’s energy
consumption, coal remains the top source for meeting the country’s
energy needs. For instance, in 2004, about two-thirds (67.7 percent) of
China’s energy consumption came from coal, 22.7 percent from oil, 7
percent from hydropower, and 2.6 percent from natural gas. About 40
percent of China’s oil was imported in that year, accounting for only 9.1
percent of the country’s total energy consumption. Thus, imported oil did
not play major role in energy consumption. Domestically produced coal,
oil, and hydropower along with imported oil helped the country satisfy its
growing needs. In fact, large oil-producers did not cover a huge portion
of Beijing’s energy consumption. For example, in 2003, Iran supplied
only 1 percent of China’s total energy consumption. Hence, much of the
fear and suspicion of Beijing’s potential to destabilize international
energy order or implement aggressive oil diplomacy are becoming
unrealistic arguments;
 Second, regarding the country’s political and economic rise,
China’s leadership takes great care to ease external fears as much as
possible. During the presidency of Jiang Zemin, China represented itself
as a “responsible great power,” promoting peace, stability and prosperity
in the world. Later, under Hu Jintao, China pursued a strategy of
“peaceful rise,” which was also called peaceful development. Moreover,
Beijing’s ‘peaceful and responsible strategy’ continued during the current
President Xi Jinping’s policy as well. 38
Conclusion
Now China is the world’s second largest oil consuming country.
Thus, Beijing’s external quest for oil has generated much attention and
global debates regarding this phenomena: can Beijing’s rising energy
demands destabilize the world order? While trying to find an answer to
this question, it is very important to comprehend the situation around
China’s external initiatives for satisfying its domestic oil demands, as
well as the possible influence of Beijing’s oil diplomacy on global
political stability.
Arguably, while continuing to deepen its cooperative ties with the
Gulf States, China was ready even for direct competition with the United
States for the influence. Although Chinese energy companies were
pursuing deals in various regions, however, Gulf region’s huge oil

38
Ibid, 534.
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