【英语中国】中国否认成为世界最大能源消费国

China's government disputed the International Energy Agency's assertion that China surpassed the U.S. as the world's largest energy consumer last year, highlighting the lack of clarity in China's energy sector as well as the country's unease at its growing global impact.

'By our calculation, the U.S. was still the world's largest energy user in 2009,' said Zeng Yachuan, a spokesman with China's National Energy Administration. Zhou Xi'an, a director with the agency, told reporters that 'the IEA data can be used as a reference but are not very reliable.'

The IEA said that last year China used 2.252 billion tons of oil equivalent, a measure of energy including oil, gas, coal, uranium and all other sources. That figure is about 4% more than the U.S., which the IEA said burned 2.17 billion tons of oil equivalent. On a per capita basis, Chinese energy demand is still around a third of the average of industrialized nations, according to IEA data.

The IEA quickly defended its analysis Tuesday. 'All the relevant sources of statistics indicate that China has surpassed the United States to become the world's largest energy consumer,' IEA chief economist Fatih Birol said.

(This story and related background material will be available on The Wall Street Journal Web site, WSJ.com.)

The exchange continues a longstanding disagreement between China and the IEA. The Paris-based group's forecasts, which are widely followed, rely on extensive data on oil demand, storage and exports provided by member countries including the U.S.

But the IEA has complained repeatedly that China, which isn't a member country, provides inadequate or unclear data, and it says this lack of transparency contributes to volatility in international oil markets as traders try to second guess Chinese buying.

China is working with the IEA to improve data collection. But in its closely watched monthly report, the IEA this month repeated 'its concerns with Chinese data,' pointing out a mismatch between China's energy demand and its gross domestic product.

Chinese officials say the IEA doesn't understand China's energy sector and underestimates the effectiveness of aggressive energy-efficiency drives and increasing use of renewable sources like wind, solar, hydro or nuclear power.

The IEA's Birol said that Chinese energy demand would be even higher if the government hadn't made progress in building solar and wind power industries--helping to ease the energy intensity of China's economy.

Ultimately, the discrepancy isn't of great consequence. China calculates that it used 3.066 billion tons of coal equivalent last year, equal to 2.146 billion tons of oil equivalent. That's about 5% below the IEA's calculation of China demand, but just 1% below U.S. consumption. Given China's rapid economic growth, which exceeded 10% in the first half of this year, it's likely that China will erase the gap with the U.S. this year even by its own measurements. And Zeng conceded that China was the world's largest 'primary energy producer,' suggesting some of that is exported.

China's reluctance to accept the mantle of world's top energy consumer also reflects unease with its growing global influence--and the responsibilities that could come with it, such as greater calls for it to limit its energy use. In addition, increasing energy imports have spurred an overseas buying spree by Chinese natural resources companies, forcing Chinese leaders to consider how to guarantee energy security when supply lines are stretched far.

China's rise has yet to translate into more pricing power in global energy markets. And China's rise as the world's biggest energy consumer leaves it actually more vulnerable than ever to factors it can't control: instability in the Middle East, piracy off the eastern shores of Africa and conflict in central Asia.

中国政府驳斥了国际能源署(International Energy Agency)提出的去年中国超过美国成为全球最大能源消费国的说法，凸显出中国能源业缺乏透明性，也显示出中国对其不断增长的全球影响力的顾虑。

中国国家能源局发言人曾亚川说，根据我们的计算，2009年美国仍是世界上最大的能源消费国。国家能源局综合司司长周喜安说，“这个数据可以供我们借鉴，但我们觉得它并不可信”。

国际能源署说，去年中国消费了22.52亿吨油当量的能源。油当量用来衡量包括石油、天然气、煤炭、核能和所有其他来源的能源。这一数据比美国高出了约4%。国际能源署说，美国消费了21.7亿吨油当量的能源。据国际能源署的数据，按人均能源消费量计算，中国的能源需求仍只有工业化国家平均水平的约三分之一。

国际能源署周二很快对其分析进行了辩护。该机构首席经济学家比罗尔(Fatih Birol)说，所有相关的统计数据来源都表明，中国超过了美国成为全球最大的能源消费国。

这场争论是中国与国际能源署之间长期意见不合的延续。国际能源署总部位于巴黎，它的预测依靠的是包括美国在内的成员国提供的石油需求、储备和出口的大量数据，被广泛作为参考。

不过，国际能源署一再抱怨，中国提供的数据不足或不清。它说，透明性的缺乏造成国际石油市场的动荡，因为交易员们试图猜测中国的购买情况。中国不是国际能源署的成员国。

中国正携手国际能源署改进数据收集情况。在国际能源署倍受关注的月度报告中，该机构本月重申它担心中国数据，指出中国能源需求和其国内生产总值（GDP）不匹配。

中国官方表示，国际能源署对中国能源行业情况没有充分了解，低估了节约能源措施的效果，中国也增加了对风能、太阳能、水电或核电等再生资源的使用。

国际能源署的比罗尔说，如果中国政府不在建设太阳能和风力产业方面取得进步，帮助缓解中国经济中的能源紧张问题，中国对能源的需求会更高。

基本上，中国和国际能源署的计算之间的差异没有太大意义。中国计算数据显示，去年使用了30.66亿吨煤当量，相当于21.46亿吨油当量，这较国际能源署对中国需求的计算低约5%，但较美国的消费量仅低1%。今年上半年中国经济增长率超过10%，鉴于中国经济的快速发展，即使按照中国自己的衡量标准，今年中国仍可能弥补与美国的差距。曾亚川承认，中国是世界上最大的初级能源生产国，暗示中国出口一些能源。

中国不愿意接受世界第一能源消费国的称号也反映出中国对日益增强的全球影响力感到不安，因为责任亦将随之而来，比如面对要求中国限制能源使用的更强烈的声音。另外，能源进口增加使中国自然资源企业掀起一波海外并购狂潮，迫使中国领导层考虑当供应链延伸至很远的国家时，如何保证能源安全。

中国的崛起并没有让它在国际能源市场获得更多定价权，而中国成为世界最大能源消费国，可以说让它比以往更加容易受到那些不可受其掌控的因素的影响，比如中东局势不稳，非洲东海岸附近的海盗活动，中亚地区的冲突等。