Annals of the University of Bucharest: Geography Series (Oct 2014)
The implications of China's economic growth for the oil sector
Abstract
China, the most populated state on the planet, has experienced a spectacular economic growth after 1978, with a mean annual growth rate of G DP of about 10%. Thus, China has become the second largest world economic power. Econ omic development has entailed significant social-economic changes, increasing lif e expectancy and urbanization degree. At the same time, the power demand (oil included) has grown considerably and not before long, China has become the largest energy consumer and the seco nd oil consumer in the world. But, being unable to ensure its increasing demands from intern al sources, starting with 1993, China has become a net importer of oil. A good indicator for oil consumption increase is the big number of vehicles that drive along the China’s roads. As the driving force of the economy, the meeting of energy demands is one of the main priorities of eve ry state, but the access to resources may become increasingly difficult if they start to dwin dle, while the technological progress lags behind.
