IEA and China deepen ties with extensive three-year work programme

BEIJING – The International Energy Agency (IEA) and China are stepping up cooperation on energy security, capacity building, data and statistics through a new three-year work programme that also supports China’s energy transition and efforts to address environmental and air-quality issues.

The IEA and China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) will also expand their collaboration on a variety of key energy sector issues, including oil emergency management and preparedness, natural gas infrastructure, grid integration of variable renewables, energy efficiency, and technology innovation.

Under the new programme, which is unprecedented in terms of scope and extent of cooperation, the IEA and the NEA will work on energy policy analysis and recommendations, set up training for energy professionals in China, strengthen data collection and help enhance the global energy dialogue.

In November 2015, China was among the first IEA Association countries, along with Indonesia and Thailand, marking an important milestone in the IEA’s increasing worldwide engagement with emerging economies. The expanded work programme also follows the decision to establish the IEA-China Energy Cooperation Centre, which was announced by Mr Bekri and Dr Birol in March 2016.

The agreement, which builds on this recent momentum generated by the IEA’s modernisation and open-door policy, was signed in Beijing by Mr Nur Bekri, the Administrator of China’s NEA, and Dr Fatih Birol, the IEA Executive Director.

“This new work programme is a concrete sign of the deepening ties between the IEA and China and will benefit everyone with a stake in the global energy system,” said Dr Birol. “The three year work programme lays a perfect foundation to facilitate cooperation with concrete deliverables between China and the IEA,” said Mr Bekri.

The programme will also strengthen training activities for Chinese energy professionals and policy makers at national and local levels, focusing especially on energy markets and policies, natural gas, renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy modelling, and data and statistics. 

Cooperation between the IEA and China began in 1996 with the Memorandum of Policy Understanding in the Field of Energy. The IEA has since established direct relationships with the National Energy Administration (NEA), the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), among others.   

This year, the IEA’s flagship publication, World Energy Outlook 2017, will feature a special report on China’s energy outlook and implications for the global energy markets.