The current situation and development of Chinese gas in international trade

In the rapid economic development, energy and environmental issues have also attracted great attention, and people are more and more eager for clean energy under the environment of increasingly serious energy and environmental problems.

At present, China’s energy consumption is mainly based on oil and coal, and the consumption of oil and coal resources will produce some environmentally harmful gases, such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, sulfur monoxide, sulfur dioxide, etc., making the quality of the environment on which people live more and more poor, in the face of such an environment, China began to exploit natural gas resources. As a new type of clean fuel energy, the use and trade of natural gas has changed the original trade status and has become more and more important in international trade.

1 Overview of Natural Gas Resources in China

Natural gas is a flammable gas buried in the ground, and its main component is methane (CH4), which is volatile, flammable and explosive, and can be liquefied at -162°C under atmospheric pressure, reducing its volume to 1/600. natural gas is a clean fuel, containing almost no sulfur, dust and other harmful substances, and poses little harm to the environment.

China has relatively abundant natural gas resources, according to the relevant data statistics, China’s total predicted geological reserves of natural gas is 38 trillion cubic meters, from the distribution will, there are more in the west and less in the east, many reserves in the underground gas resources have not been effectively exploited.

2 The current situation of Chinese gas in international trade

Although China’s natural gas resources are relatively abundant, but due to the constraints of the exploitation conditions, the degree of development of China’s natural gas resources is low, the extracted natural gas resources are still difficult to meet the needs of China’s social development, the imbalance of domestic natural gas processes, resulting in China’s natural gas imports continue to rise. 2011 total natural gas imports rapidly reached 31.4 billion cubic meters, accounting for nearly a quarter of domestic consumption.

In a short period of time, China has made a major breakthrough in the use of foreign natural gas resources, and the initial formation of a multi-source gas supply pattern. The increasing volume of natural gas imports, however, has led to the problem of inverse prices of imported gas and domestic gas, and the destruction of the gas business has become increasingly serious. With the rapid economic development, China is investing more and more in gas development and traders. At a time of rapid economic growth, since the new century, China’s gas supply and demand have been booming, with demand growing faster than production and gas imports increasing rapidly, initially forming a multi-source gas supply pattern with domestic gas, imported pipeline gas and imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) co-existing.

In international trade, gas international trade is mainly pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas. Natural gas pipeline gas accounts for 72.6% of the total trade volume and LNG accounts for 27.4% of the total trade volume. China’s LNG imports are mainly sourced from Australia, Indonesia, Kadar, and Malaysia Den over, 29.8%, 16.3%, 19.1%, and 12.9% respectively. Pipeline gas imports began in 2009, first from Turkmenistan, and as pipeline gas imports increased, China signed agreements with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan respectively.

3 China’s gas development strategy

3.1 Increase gas technology research

From the current situation of China’s gas in international trade, we can see that China’s gas mainly relies on imports, and with the increase of gas imports, the problem of inversion of the price of imported gas and domestic gas is becoming more and more prominent, and the destruction of the gas business is becoming more and more serious.

From the perspective of China’s gas extraction efforts, the level of gas extraction in China is still relatively low, and the lack of internal supply naturally aggravates the amount of imports, and to solve this problem, it is vital to increase the research of gas technology. Technology is an important hurdle in the future development of Chinese gas, and only by solving technical problems can the problems faced in Chinese gas extraction be solved.

Therefore, China should increase its research on gas technology, not only by increasing its own technological innovation and continuously improving the level of gas extraction technology, but also by actively studying advanced foreign technology, so as to promote the better development of China’s gas industry.

3.2 Strengthen international cooperation

Currently, 30% of China’s gas supply comes from imports. In the face of the increasing demand for gas resources in economic development, strengthening international cooperation has become an important strategy for the development of the gas industry.

First, we should actively implement the “One Belt, One Road” program and build a framework for international cooperation, so that all parties can uphold the principles of common business, common construction and sharing, join hands to meet the challenges facing the world economy, create new opportunities for development, achieve complementary advantages and mutual benefits, and thus move to a new level.

Secondly, we should sort out the national backgrounds and development trends of the “Belt and Road” gas cooperation, and actively establish cooperative relationships according to the actual situation of our countries.

In addition, we should study various mechanisms related to gas cooperation, such as safety guarantee mechanisms, economic and financial mechanisms, and legal and regulatory mechanisms, in order to create favorable conditions for the development of the gas industry and promote the smooth development of gas business.

3.3 Reform the pricing mechanism

Under the influence of macroeconomic and industrial development mechanisms, the growth rate of China’s gas consumption has had a significant downward trend. In this situation, it is difficult for China’s gas industry to accomplish the planning target of 10% of primary energy from natural gas by 2020. The main reason for the declining growth rate of gas consumption in China is the high price of gas, which makes it unaffordable for people to use gas.

In this case, it is not conducive to the large-scale promotion of the gas market. And in order to promote the development of China’s gas industry, the state must reform the pricing mechanism, to set reasonable gas prices according to the gas import trade active domestic demand, to ensure the reasonableness of gas prices, so as to drive the development of the gas industry.

4 Conclusion

In summary, Chinese gas still needs to rely on imports to maintain domestic demand. Along with the development of China’s economy, the scale of China’s gas trade will become larger and larger, and its role and position in international trade will become more and more important.

The development of China’s gas not only reflects the changing landscape of the world gas market, but is also injecting new dynamics into the world gas market. And to promote the development of Chinese gas, it is necessary to combine the actual Chinese gas demand, increase the research of gas technology, strengthen the international cooperation of gas, and reform the gas price mechanism, so as to promote the better?l development of Chinese gas.