Published on: 2026-06-10
Source: Rosneft – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Balanced development of China has allowed the country to rightly take its place as a global energy power, said Igor Sechin, Secretary of the Commission under the President of the Russian Federation on the Strategy for the Development of the Fuel and Energy Complex and Environmental Security, at the XXIX St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
“After the collapse of the Soviet Union, it was assumed in the West that another real rival would never emerge. Over the past decades, China has demonstrated not only success in the economy, but also the highest achievements in science and technology, allowing it to become a global energy power,” said Sechin, also quoting the words of CCP Chairman Xi Jinping that it is precisely scientists who form the backbone for advancing modernization in the Chinese style.
Sechin also noted that in the strategic confrontation of technological leaders, China shows an insurmountable advantage of a planned economy and its economic model.
Igor Sechin emphasized that China turned out to be the most prepared for the Hormuz crisis and its consequences thanks to a balanced approach to ensuring energy security based on a real assessment of risks.
“A well-thought-out state policy has allowed a significant scale effect in the development of renewable energy sources. China has created cheap urban and intercity transport infrastructure for the domestic consumer. After the closure of the Hormuz Strait, this allowed motor fuel consumers to painlessly use available alternatives such as electric cars, electric buses, gas trucks, metro, electric trains, and electric taxis,” said Sechin.
China has a significant competitive advantage in electricity prices: it is about 9 cents per kilowatt-hour for industry (72% lower than in Germany, and 59% lower than in France) and about 7 cents per kilowatt-hour for the population (58% lower than in the USA). “Only Russia can compete at a similar level,” emphasized Igor Sechin.
He stated that, unlike Western countries, the task of restraining the growth of electricity prices in China is successfully solved, including through the optimization of the distribution of energy resources and computing power. Igor Sechin cited as an example the new energy management plan of China, which prescribes the placement of data centers in regions rich in new energy resources, as well as a policy encouraging the conclusion of long-term contracts for the purchase of electricity by data centers.
“That is, in the absence of necessity, the issue of building additional generation is solved at the expense of the data processing centers themselves, and not consumers,” explained Igor Sechin.
He also cited the Fifteenth Five-Year Plan as an example, according to which technology should become a key driver of China’s growth. To achieve this goal, Igor Sechin noted, it is impossible without the development of the energy sector, and Beijing is addressing this task by investing in the development of renewable energy sources while simultaneously significantly reducing the cost of electricity produced from renewable sources.
Sechin noted that China controls the largest energy system in the world with an installed generation capacity of about four thousand gigawatts, which is more than three times this indicator in the USA. In 2025 alone, more than 540 gigawatts of new generating capacities were introduced in China, which is equivalent to half of the installed capacity of the entire European Union.
“Simultaneously with the development of renewable energy sources in China, the construction of new thermal power plants continues. For example, last year, 78 gigawatts of coal power generation capacity were put into operation, and new projects with a total capacity of 161 gigawatts are planned. As a result of such a policy, in the next 10 years, the share of coal in China’s total energy consumption will remain above 40%,” stated Igor Sechin, adding that China is implementing the largest program for the development of nuclear power.
He also noted China’s leadership in the field of energy storage: the country annually introduces about half of the world’s new battery system capacity. “Only in December 2025, 65 gigawatt-hours of such capacity were introduced in China, which is 40% more than was introduced in the USA in the entire previous year,” said the responsible secretary of the TEC commission. At the same time, China leads in investments in the power grid, investing about 100 billion dollars in this sector.
“Strengthening energy security is part of a comprehensive program of mobilizing internal reserves implemented by China. Its goal is to prepare for the most negative scenario of confrontation with the collective West, which may be accompanied by large-scale disruption of supplies of all types of goods and services, up to and including a trade blockade,” Igor Sechin shared his opinion with me. For this, he believes, China is creating a “strategic rear” in various industries: from food to microelectronics.
“It is important that the created reserves simultaneously serve as points of growth of ‘productive forces of a new quality,’ fully functioning in peacetime,” Igor Sechin summed up.
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PJSC “NK “Rosneft”
June 6, 2026
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