A Guide to China's Energy Statistics

Abstract

A tremendous amount of statistical material on China's energy system has become available since the 1980s. In this article, we provide an overview of the published sources on China's energy statistics, mainly concerning energy production and consumption. Aggregate statistics and balances are available through publications of the National Bureau of Statistics, and specialized publications present information on sectors and individual enterprises in greater detail. Some materials are available in English, while most are only in Chinese, and some key information is available on the internet. While shortcomings in coverage and quality affect many energy indicators, China's statistics can be used for meaningful analysis, provided that the factors affecting data quality are given due to consideration, and checks using other indicators are performed.