30-07-08 The State Council has granted the power to adjust energy prices to the newly established National Energy Bureau. However, any decision it takes will still need to be examined by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), and submitted to the State Council for approval.
In the meantime, NDRC needs to solicit opinions from the National Energy Bureau when adjusting energy prices. Energy price adjustment, especially in oil product prices, can now be launched by the two institutions at the same time.

Zhou Dadi, former director of NDRC’s Energy Research Institution, said whether the new administrative system would accelerate the pace of energy price reform is still unknown. The current system will go on for some time yet. And now that energy prices are affected not only by the industry situation but also by inflation, decisions about prices cannot be decided on by these departments only.
“But the new system emphasizes coordination, which is good for policy making,” said Zhou. He also said that the National Energy Bureau needed to consider not only international oil price trends, but also the formation of a long-term mechanism for adjusting energy prices.

The National Energy Bureau will be responsible for administrating the whole energy industry, including coal, natural gas, petroleum, electricity (including nuclear power), new energy, and renewable energy, formulating standards for the energy industry, supervising the development of the industry, and guiding energy development in rural areas.
The establishment of the National Energy Bureau was an important part of the institution reshuffling of the State Council last March, aiming to reinforce energy industry administration in order to cope with increasingly serious energy problems both at home and abroad, and to secure healthy and continuous economic development.

The National Energy Bureau will serve under China’s National Energy Commission, a top level energy administration in charge of formulating the country’s energy development strategy, supervising energy security, and deciding important energy issues. The newly founded National Energy Bureau will have 9 departments and 112 employees.
The State Council also defined the division of responsibility between the National Energy Bureau and the Ministry of Industry and Information. The National Energy Bureau will take on the administration of industries involved in oil refining, coal fuel, and fuel alcohol.

Gu Zongqin, dean of the China Petroleum and Chemical Planning Institute, said that originally NDRC alone was in charge of the planning and administration of the whole coal and chemical industry, but after the reshuffling, the National Energy Bureau will be in charge of energy production, and the Ministry of Industry and Information will take the remaining responsibilities. The coal and chemical industry will then answer to two departments, adding to the difficulties for future administration.
But now, the National Energy Bureau will be the only administrator of the new energy industry, while in the past, it was managed by two departments under the NDRC.

The National Energy Bureau will set up a Party Committee, with former NDRC vice director Zhang Guobao as its secretary.
Committee members will include Sun Qin, former vice director of Commission Of Science Technology and Industry for National Defence, and Zhao Xiaoping, ex-vice director of former National Energy Administration of NDRC.