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Despite its slowing economy, China is still facing severe pressure from surging demand for energy as its economy expands at about 7.5 percent. Now it relies on foreign markets for slightly less than 60 percent of its domestic oil consumption, a proportion that could continue to rise in the coming decades.

Meanwhile, in its energy consumption mix, coal accounts for about 70 percent. The heavy reliance on coal has brought serious problems, such as industrial pollution, that can be solved through increasing the use of clean energy sources, such as natural gas.

Despite its urgent need for natural gas, China, the third-largest consumer in the world, is depending on foreign markets for about 35 percent of its natural gas supply.

Its annual demand for gas is expected to reach 200-300 billion cubic meters by the end of the decade and sustain a rate of about 14-percent growth through to 2030, according to experts. China's own gas production capacity, however, would be able to satisfy about half of the demand, leaving a huge gap that is to be bridged by imports.

A solution could lie in development of shale gas. The US is leading the world in developing related technologies, but China lags far behind, making it difficult to tap its plentiful reserves of shale gas.

With its capacity in exploring traditional energy sources unable to improve substantially, China must accelerate its economic restructuring to reduce its demand for energy while speeding up development of its core technologies to tap unconventional energy sources, such as shale gas.

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