• China is the world's most populous country and the largest energy consumer in the world. Rapidly increasing energy demand has made China extremely influential in world energy markets.
• China is the world's second-largest consumer of oil behind the United States, and the second-largest net importer of oil as of 2009.
• China's largest oil fields are mature and production has peaked, leading companies to focus on developing largely untapped reserves in the western interior provinces and offshore fields.
• Although natural gas use is rapidly increasing in China, the fuel comprised less than 4 percent of the country's total primary energy consumption in 2009.
• China is the largest producer and consumer of coal in the world, and accounts for almost half of the world's coal consumption.
• China's electricity generation continues to be dominated by fossil fuel sources, particularly coal. The Chinese government has made the expansion of natural gas-fired and renewable power plants as well as electricity transmission a priority.
• The Three Gorges Dam hydroelectric facility, the largest hydroelectric project in the world, started operations in 2003 and completed construction in 2012.

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Analysis Last Updated: September 4, 2012