By Zhang Xin
PARIS, July 27 (Xinhua) -- During the process of rapid economic development, "China will need energy, and it is very legitimate," Fatih Birol, the chief economist of the International Energy Agency (IEA), said Tuesday.
Last week, the Paris-based energy adviser published a report ranking China as the biggest energy user in the world, which sparked international concern over Beijing's influence on global energy markets.
However, Birol, the economist who presented the report, said that surprise is not the expected response to the report.
"A year ago, China was a very small margin behind the United States. It's normal because as a developed country, the U.S. energy demand is not as strong as China's," he said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.
China's outstanding economic expansion is the major driving force behind climbing energy demand, Birol said. "It's legitimate," he said. "It's a very normal development. There is nothing surprising here."
"When we look at the economic development process of the United States or Europe, they also needed a lot of energy. Now it is China's turn to grow," Birol said.
The United States has been the world's biggest energy user through the past century and consumed twice as much energy as China in 2000.
On a per-capita basis, China's consumption is around one-third of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average and far less than the U.S. level, the IEA report said.
The IEA chief economist said people should pay more attention to appropriate and sustainable use of energy instead of the rank of consumers. He believed that trying to get energy from clean energy sources should be a greater priority.
Hailing China's economic growth, which he regarded not only as beneficial for China but also for "global economic welfare," the economist praised the Chinese government's measures to improve energy efficiency and make more use of renewable energy and nuclear energy.
Birol said that he also appreciated the option of electric cars in China's energy policy because it would reduce the need for an oil-based transportation system.
During the interview, the economist repeatedly predicted that China would soon be "the world champion of renewable energy use."
Speaking about the next World Energy Outlook 2010 report, "we have very surprising and positive messages in terms of China's future role in terms of renewable energies," Birol said. However, he refused to elaborate as the outlook report is due out in November.
As China is undertaking its widely praised economic expansion,the huge growth in energy demand as an inevitable by-product surely poses challenges for the world's biggest developing economy.
"Increasing oil import bills and environmental issues are two major challenges in front of China," Birol said.
"Till now, we didn't see anything extraordinary in the market, but oil demand coming from China is very strong ... For the producing countries, please invest in a timely manner in your (oil producing countries') oil fields and gas fields," he said.
As for nuclear energy, Birol believed that China is the undisputed leader in the construction of nuclear power plants.
He said the construction of nuclear plants demonstrates China's determination to reduce the share of coal in the Chinese electricity generation mix, which helps fight local pollution and climate change.
