China has made giant stri-des in the field of energy development, in the process ensuring better energy services for all. Better energy service for all is, in fact, a mission that developing nations must accomplish. After all, an effective energy system is one that provides sustainable, safe, affordable and accessible energy to all.

But better energy service for all is a rather broad concept. To say the least, it should be affordable and accessible. Ensuring this is an essential part of government public service and requires reasonable policy design and sufficient funding. It's also an important way to gauge government's performance.

When the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, the country had very limited energy production capacity, just 20 million metric tons of standard coal equivalent. Seven decades later, by 2018, total energy production capability had risen 158 times to reach nearly 3.8 billion tons of standard coal equivalent, an annual compound average increase of 7.6 percent.

And yet, the domestic energy supply can hardly match the surging demand thanks to rapid economic growth and improving living standards of people in China, forcing it to become a net energy importer. In 2018, the energy selfsufficiency ratio was only 80 percent, with the foreign oil dependence rate exceeding 70 percent.

On the other hand, China is speeding up transformation, from using primary energy to secondary energy. It replaced the United States as the world's largest power generator in 2011, both in terms of installed capacity and generated electricity. At the end of 2018, the installed capacity reached 19 trillion kilowatts, 32 times what it was at the end of 1978. China's electricity consumption surged to nearly 7 trillion kilowatt hours in 2018, 26 times that in 1978.

China's power grid system has gradually evolved from low coverage, poor connection, low voltage and weak security to be one that has the strongest resource allocation capability, the longest highvoltage transmission line and highest safety level.

Over the past few years, the Chinese government has attached great importance to tackling environmental pollution and promoting low-carbon development by switching to renewable energy. By the end of 2018, China had installed 184 gigawatts of wind power capacity and 175 GW of solar photovoltaic capacity, both the highest in the world.

It has become the world's largest renewable energy producer, with the most complete and cost-effective solar PV and wind power industry chains. The competitiveness of clean energy has increased considerably with the government pushing for clean, low-carbon energy.

In 2018, clean energy consumption accounted for 22 percent of the total while renewable energy sources generated 26.7 percent of total electricity. China's energy mix has gradually transformed from coalbased to low-carbon, clean and diverse.

Latest reports from the International Energy Agency and the World Bank say 840 million people are still without electricity in the world, India alone having 99 million of them. In contrast, at the end of 2015, electricity access reached 100 percent in China, also a developing nation.

At the beginning of China's reform and opening-up, the country faced a severe power supply shortage, which greatly curbed productivity. But increased investment in the energy sector helped it power ahead, expanding the power grid and giving residents of most Chinese cities and villages access to power.

It all began in 1994, when the Chinese government implemented a program aimed at alleviating poverty by giving residents access to electricity. A year later, access to power in rural areas rose to nearly 97 percent.

The following decade saw tremendous progress in expansion and renovation of power grids in rural areas. But even then, 2.73 million inhabitants of remote areas in the Tibet autonomous region, and Gansu and Qinghai provinces, had no access to power by the end of 2012.

The central government then brought in preferential policies and pumped in money according to specific local circumstances. For instance, a solar PV system was established in Tibet, which has abundant sunlight, to increase the reliability and practicability of the region's power supply. By the end of 2015, the Chinese government announced that the problem of those without power was solved.

But better energy service also entails that people enjoy high-quality energy service at reasonable and affordable prices. Toward this goal, the government has greatly subsidized power for city dwellers and offered the same price to rural residents. To offer better energy service to rural residents, China implemented several projects to upgrade rural power grids, with funding from both central and local governments. Over the past few years, China allocated quota to establish solar PV stations in poverty-stricken areas as a way of alleviating poverty. Although cross subsidy in the electricity sector needs reform, it played an important role in supporting better energy service for all in China.

To develop its economy, a country has to develop the power sector first. Due to sustained economic growth and improvement of people's living standards, China's electrification level is continuously increasing and better energy service for all has brought about new development opportunities in some remote areas.

But this is a dynamic process that requires continued improvement in quality in accordance with new technologies. For instance, distributed development of new energy in urban and rural areas will be an important aspect of better energy service for all. China offered subsidies to spur home appliance sales in rural areas, greatly increasing the electrification level and consumption in rural areas. But installed capacity can hardly meet the surging demand, so rural power grids always require a new round of upgrading.

Furthermore, more support should be given to developing renewable energy such as solar PV and wind power in rural areas in accordance with local conditions. In particular, a fiscal compensation system should be established for better energy service for all in remote areas and regions where ethnic groups reside. The government should also solve the problem of insufficient operation and maintenance fees for rural power grids in remote areas with small populations and limited electricity consumption.

The author is dean of the China Institute for Studies in Energy Policy at Xiamen University.

The author contributed this article to China Watch exclusively. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of China Watch.

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