Abstract
The ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ (BRI) proposal provides an opportunity to address the challenges of energy security. This paper aims to explore the relationship between China’s energy policies and the BRI, especially in energy security, by highlighting the energy status in China and its top energy priorities. In this study, the analytical framework presented is based on the model of “four As.” The results indicated that BRI can improve China’s energy security in all four areas of availability, accessibility, affordability, and acceptability. By deepening energy cooperation with BRI countries, the import transportation channels of energy in China can be further diversified, its room for maneuver in the international energy market will increase, along with its voice in international energy negotiations and global energy governance. The initiative will enable member states to collaborate on energy supply and security issues broadly and strategically. In addition, it can improve energy development efficiency and speed up the circulation of investment funds. Further, BRI can increase energy technology exchanges and cooperation with major energy-consuming countries such as Japan and Singapore. Contrary to merely geopolitical analysis, China’s BRI Energy Sustainable Project should be observed in a broader context in terms of sustainable development and economic objectives. Under the framework of the BRI strategy, the future development path of China’s energy security strategy may open the way for pluralistic economic cooperation in the field of energy.
Highlights
The uneven distribution of energy resources worldwide has caused major energy supply vulnerabilities among the countries
Energy security can be considered as a stable and reliable supply of energy at reasonable prices and social costs. This definition includes availability based on geological characteristics (Kruyt et al, 2009; Sovacool and Mukherjee, 2011), accessibility based on geopolitical factors (Youngs, 2014), affordability related to the economic sphere (Yao and Chang, 2014; Le and Nguyen 2019), and acceptability based on social and environmental concerns (Holley and Lecavalier, 2017)
During economic growth in China, energy supply and security are considered as two important issues in its foreign policy for decades
Summary
The uneven distribution of energy resources worldwide has caused major energy supply vulnerabilities among the countries. The traditional concept of energy security, which only emphasizes the protection of energy supply at affordable prices (Deese, 1979; Krugman, 1988), has become too narrow to meet security requirements comprehensively Some issues such as environmental sustainability, energy efficiency, laws, and social norms, and type of governance are considered as influential factors which can only be considered in a more comprehensive definition of the concept of energy security (Cherp, 2012). Energy supply, energy efficiency, and environmental quality as the essential elements were considered for analyzing China’s BRI energy security policies This approach to broadening the definition of the energy security concept is in line with some previous studies (von Hippel et al, 2011; Holley and Lecavalier, 2017; Knox-Hayes et al, 2013).
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