Fu Chengyu, former Sinopec chairman at WGC in Beijing (Source: WGC)
China’s pragmatic coal-to-gas strategy
A cautious approach to coal-to-gas switching offers lessons to others who are looking to balance cost with cleaner energy
China’s coal-to-gas (CTG) switch remains a work in progress more than a decade after it kicked off, with coal continuing to meet more than half of primary energy consumption last year. But the effort by the biggest economy so far to attempt to wean itself off coal offers useful lessons for other developing countries eyeing the transition, delegates heard at the World Gas Conference in Beijing in May. CTG switching policies in China have needed to balance the classic energy trilemma of security, affordability and development, Fu Chengyu, chairman of the Renewable Energy and Net Zero Council, said on a panel. Fu was chairman of Sinopec—China’s second-largest gas supplier—in September 2013, whe
Also in this section
13 March 2026
Brussels is again weighing a cap on gas prices amid the Hormuz crisis, but the measure could backfire by deterring the LNG cargoes Europe urgently needs
12 March 2026
Emergency oil stocks provide a last line of defence to oil market shocks, so the IEA’s unprecedented 400m bl release represents something of a double-edged sword
12 March 2026
LPG could rapidly expand access to clean cooking across Africa and prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths from indoor air pollution each year, but infrastructure shortages and regulatory barriers are slowing investment and market growth
11 March 2026
Missiles over Dubai and disruption in Hormuz are testing the emirate’s reputation—and shaking the energy hub at the centre of the Gulf economy
