China is rejecting IEA estimates that the country surpassed the US as the world's largest energy consumer last year, labelling the data as inaccurate.
The IEA's data could be used as a reference but should not be trusted , Zhou Xi'an, a section chief with China's national energy administration, said yesterday.
Calculations based on preliminary data show China consumed 2.3bn t of oil equivalent in 2009, the IEA said this week, surpassing US consumption by nearly 4pc. China's rise to the top ranking was faster than expected because it much less affected by the global financial crisis than the US, the OECD energy watchdog said.
Beijing instead pointed to a report earlier this year by its national bureau of statistics that China's energy consumption last year was about 2.1bn t of oil equivalent.
The IEA still lacks understanding of China's efforts to conserve energy and cut carbon emissions, especially the country's clean energy development, Zhou said. But the IEA did say China's demand today would be even higher still if the government had not made such progress in reducing the energy intensity of its economy, calling it a world leader in renewable energy and making great advancements in the expansion of nuclear power.
China's prospects for future growth still remain incredibly strong, the IEA said. China's energy demand has doubled since 2000, but on a per capita basis it is still only about a third of the OECD average.
Beijing is especially sensitive about perceived criticism of its energy consumption, especially any linking of the issue to the country's greenhouse gas emissions. China's energy use is predominantly weighted to highly polluting coal, at about two-thirds of its energy mix. China has said it will cut its carbon intensity by 40-45pc by 2020 from a 2005 baseline, which does not limit its emissions but underlines its policy of increased energy efficiency. Carbon intensity measures the amount of CO2 emitted for each unit of gross domestic product.
But Beijing is unwilling to sign up to any global accord fixing firm targets to cut its emissions, wary of any commitment that could harm its economic progress. This reluctance, along with that of other developing nations, resulted in the failure of the UN's climate conference in Copenhagen last year to forge a new legally binding treaty to curb global warming.
The IEA's data could be used as a reference but should not be trusted , Zhou Xi'an, a section chief with China's national energy administration, said yesterday.
Calculations based on preliminary data show China consumed 2.3bn t of oil equivalent in 2009, the IEA said this week, surpassing US consumption by nearly 4pc. China's rise to the top ranking was faster than expected because it much less affected by the global financial crisis than the US, the OECD energy watchdog said.
Beijing instead pointed to a report earlier this year by its national bureau of statistics that China's energy consumption last year was about 2.1bn t of oil equivalent.
The IEA still lacks understanding of China's efforts to conserve energy and cut carbon emissions, especially the country's clean energy development, Zhou said. But the IEA did say China's demand today would be even higher still if the government had not made such progress in reducing the energy intensity of its economy, calling it a world leader in renewable energy and making great advancements in the expansion of nuclear power.
China's prospects for future growth still remain incredibly strong, the IEA said. China's energy demand has doubled since 2000, but on a per capita basis it is still only about a third of the OECD average.
Beijing is especially sensitive about perceived criticism of its energy consumption, especially any linking of the issue to the country's greenhouse gas emissions. China's energy use is predominantly weighted to highly polluting coal, at about two-thirds of its energy mix. China has said it will cut its carbon intensity by 40-45pc by 2020 from a 2005 baseline, which does not limit its emissions but underlines its policy of increased energy efficiency. Carbon intensity measures the amount of CO2 emitted for each unit of gross domestic product.
But Beijing is unwilling to sign up to any global accord fixing firm targets to cut its emissions, wary of any commitment that could harm its economic progress. This reluctance, along with that of other developing nations, resulted in the failure of the UN's climate conference in Copenhagen last year to forge a new legally binding treaty to curb global warming.
