From Wall Street Journal:
China has set up a high-level task force to cope with its worst power shortage in four years, and a top energy official pledged that big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai won’t be affected even as other regions struggle with blackouts and electricity rationing.
Analysts have pointed to energy bottlenecks as a major threat to China’s economy. China’s growth rate remains strong, but its power shortage is contributing to economic jitters already exacerbated by high inflation and commodity prices and a weakening global economy.
The task force would look for ways to increase coal output, to improve coal transportation and to encourage greater energy conservation by end users, especially among government institutions, said Zhang Guobao, head of the National Energy Administration, at a news conference Monday. “I think this series of measures will help ease the problem of the short supply of coal and the rising price.”
