These pilots will be extended to include eight
other SOEs—China Shenhua, Baowu, China
Minmetals Corporation (CMC), China Merchants Group (CMG), China Communications
Construction Company Limited (CCCC), China
Poly Group, China Cheng Tong and China
Reform Holdings Corporation Limited.
Third, China is using mergers and acquisitions
to integrate enterprises. In May 2015, with
approval from the State Council, China Power
Investment Corporation (CPIC) and State
Nuclear Power Technology Corporation merged
to form State Power Investment Corporation
(SPIC), with assets of more than RMB 700 billion and annual operating revenues of around
RMB 200 billion. SPIC broke the monopoly in
nuclear power of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) and China General Nuclear
Power Group (CGN) and made SPIC one of the
country’s top-three nuclear power groups, integrating upstream and downstream businesses. In
the future, SPIC plans an initial public offering,
with the ambition to become China’s largest
nuclear power group.
3 The Current Energy System
and Existing Problems
3.1 Energy Legislation System
3.1.1 Current Developments
China’s legal framework for the energy system
has started to take shape, providing the legal
basis and guarantees for energy development and
government
administration.
Energy
law
enforcement is an important part of China’s
energy administration. However, legal supervision and compliance remain in their early stages.
(1) The energy law framework is taking shape
China’s energy legislation is complex in structure
and scattered in content. It is a mixture of old and
new laws and regulations.
The elements of China’s energy legislation
system comprise laws, administrative regulations, departmental regulations, mandatory
standards and specifications, local laws and regulations, and international conventions. The
legislative hierarchy consists of national institutions and the State Council, below which are
departments, local institutions with legislative
powers, and local government.
The participants involved in the energy system include producers, traders, consumers, government at all levels and other energy market
entities. The provisions regarding the rights and
responsibilities of energy market participants are
scattered across different energy laws and
regulations.
China’s energy legislation system covers
exploration and production, processing and
conversion, distribution, transport and use. The
system is an integral part of the much larger
ambition to build an ecological civilisation and
robust legal system. Provisions relating to
downstream energy are linked to environmental
protection and combating climate change.
(2) Energy law enforcement has become an
important part of energy administration
Energy law enforcement is an important part of
China’s energy administration.
The main energy law enforcement entities
include national and local authorities for development and reform (pricing), land and resources,
environmental protection and safety. Departments and administrative bodies relating to
commerce, customs and quality supervision also
play a role.
Enforcement mainly takes the form of traditional law enforcement and administrative
methods like supervision. Central government is
generally better than local government at
enforcement. The number of enforcement agents
necessary to cover a sector as large as energy
makes it difficult to find good-quality personnel
who satisfy professional requirements.
Results are typically related to capability.
Because the basis for enforcement is sometimes
unclear, it can be difficult to enforce legislation
effectively over national energy infrastructure.
Enforcement by local government often meets
intervention from other parties.
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S. Yaodong and A. Gillespie
other SOEs—China Shenhua, Baowu, China
Minmetals Corporation (CMC), China Merchants Group (CMG), China Communications
Construction Company Limited (CCCC), China
Poly Group, China Cheng Tong and China
Reform Holdings Corporation Limited.
Third, China is using mergers and acquisitions
to integrate enterprises. In May 2015, with
approval from the State Council, China Power
Investment Corporation (CPIC) and State
Nuclear Power Technology Corporation merged
to form State Power Investment Corporation
(SPIC), with assets of more than RMB 700 billion and annual operating revenues of around
RMB 200 billion. SPIC broke the monopoly in
nuclear power of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) and China General Nuclear
Power Group (CGN) and made SPIC one of the
country’s top-three nuclear power groups, integrating upstream and downstream businesses. In
the future, SPIC plans an initial public offering,
with the ambition to become China’s largest
nuclear power group.
3 The Current Energy System
and Existing Problems
3.1 Energy Legislation System
3.1.1 Current Developments
China’s legal framework for the energy system
has started to take shape, providing the legal
basis and guarantees for energy development and
government
administration.
Energy
law
enforcement is an important part of China’s
energy administration. However, legal supervision and compliance remain in their early stages.
(1) The energy law framework is taking shape
China’s energy legislation is complex in structure
and scattered in content. It is a mixture of old and
new laws and regulations.
The elements of China’s energy legislation
system comprise laws, administrative regulations, departmental regulations, mandatory
standards and specifications, local laws and regulations, and international conventions. The
legislative hierarchy consists of national institutions and the State Council, below which are
departments, local institutions with legislative
powers, and local government.
The participants involved in the energy system include producers, traders, consumers, government at all levels and other energy market
entities. The provisions regarding the rights and
responsibilities of energy market participants are
scattered across different energy laws and
regulations.
China’s energy legislation system covers
exploration and production, processing and
conversion, distribution, transport and use. The
system is an integral part of the much larger
ambition to build an ecological civilisation and
robust legal system. Provisions relating to
downstream energy are linked to environmental
protection and combating climate change.
(2) Energy law enforcement has become an
important part of energy administration
Energy law enforcement is an important part of
China’s energy administration.
The main energy law enforcement entities
include national and local authorities for development and reform (pricing), land and resources,
environmental protection and safety. Departments and administrative bodies relating to
commerce, customs and quality supervision also
play a role.
Enforcement mainly takes the form of traditional law enforcement and administrative
methods like supervision. Central government is
generally better than local government at
enforcement. The number of enforcement agents
necessary to cover a sector as large as energy
makes it difficult to find good-quality personnel
who satisfy professional requirements.
Results are typically related to capability.
Because the basis for enforcement is sometimes
unclear, it can be difficult to enforce legislation
effectively over national energy infrastructure.
Enforcement by local government often meets
intervention from other parties.
424
S. Yaodong and A. Gillespie