December 08, 2006	Friday	Ziqa'ad 16, 1427

BEIJING, Dec 7: China will host a gathering next week of high-level officials from major energy-importing nations including the United States, Japan, India and South Korea, an official said on Thursday.

“China's National Development Reform Commission is going to host the meeting with a view to enhancing the cooperation and dialogue among the major energy consumers in the world,” foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said.

“The topic of discussion during the meeting is to reduce energy consumption and raise efficiency ... and to ensure global energy security and stability.” The meeting was set for Dec 16, he said. It had earlier been scheduled for Dec 4-7. Qin gave no reasons for why it had been postponed.

Energy security is becoming an urgent priority for fast-growing China, already the world's second-largest consumer of oil.

China imported 120.07m ton of crude oil in the first 10 months of the year, up 14.1pc on the same period last year, as its booming economy boosted demand.

“We hope that this meeting will be conducive to coordination and communication among major energy consumers,” Qin said.

—AFP