Reuters
As China s ban on coal imports from Australia drags on, questions are rising about whether Beijing s political punishment of a major trading partner is worth the cost.
China has struggled with power shortages since the start of the winter heating season due to unusually cold weather, which strained coal supplies.
The crunch has been complicated by growing demand from economic recovery and effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which slowed domestic coal production and transport to power plants.
But the problems have not prevented China s government from pursuing a political agenda against Australia despite a free trade agreement between the two countries since 2015.
The Straits Times
Problem of cooling in a hotter Singapore
The growing use of refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment here has contributed to more emissions of HFCs.PHOTO: ST FILE
https://str.sg/JrLZ
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AP
An outbreak of electricity shortages has taken China s government by surprise, exposing cracks in the country s energy policies and economic recovery plans.
The first signs of trouble in the energy sector emerged in November as electricity consumption jumped 9.4 percent, spurred by rising industrial production and the start of the winter heating season, as power generation rose only 6.8 percent.
In early December, power demands in southern China s Hunan province led State Grid officials to warn that shortfalls would last until spring, according to state media.
Since then, unusually cold weather has combined with low coal supplies and recovery strains to produce a range of energy shortages in southeastern Jiangxi and eastern Zhejiang provinces as well as Inner Mongolia.
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When China announced to the United Nations in September that the world’s most pollutant economy intends to become carbon neutral by 2060, President Xi Jinping’s target was greeted with both praise and skepticism. Because China accounts for roughly 30% of the world’s total carbon dioxide emissions, the country would have to confront a total transformation of its economy to achieve its goal.
Since then, China has increased its target thus moving the goalposts for its own transition. President Xi said during a Dec. 12 speech at the virtual Climate Ambition Summit held on the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Paris Agreement that China’s goal to reducing carbon dioxide emissions will now be 5% higher than the previous target, now 65% by 2030 from 2005 levels. Alongside this accelerated goal, China will inc