China's energy supply security capacity is relatively strong,and it has a solid foundation and favorable conditions to cope with fluctuations in the external market,a National Bureau of Statistics(NBS)official said on Monday,adding that policy measures will be introduced to help guide industrial product prices back to a reasonable range.
NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui made the remarks when asked how authorities assess the potential impact of imported inflationary pressures on China's producer price index(PPI)and broader industrial price trends,as continued volatility in international oil prices has pushed up shipping and insurance costs,which could add imported cost pressures to domestic industrial prices.
The recent escalation of tensions in the Middle East has sharply increased shipping risks in the Strait of Hormuz and sent international oil prices surging,raising concerns in global markets.As of press time on Monday Beijing time,Brent crude,the international benchmark,rose 4.32 percent to above$103 a barrel.
Fu,also director general of the Department of Comprehensive Statistics of the NBS,said that uncertainties surrounding international energy prices remain considerable at present,and the extent of their spillover impact on domestic prices requires further observation.
Since the beginning of this year,China's industrial producer prices have shown a narrowing year-on-year decline overall,a trend that the NBS official attributed to multiple factors,including positive developments in domestic demand and industrial conditions,rather than international oil price increases alone.
In February,the drop in the PPI narrowed by 0.5 percentage points from the previous month,the third consecutive month of easing declines.On a month-on-month basis,factory-gate prices have risen for five straight months,official figures showed.
"The improvement in factory-gate prices for industrial producers was mainly driven by expanding demand in some domestic industries,the growth of new drivers that lifted industrial product prices,and rising prices of certain international commodities,"Fu said.
Fu explained that industrial upgrading has expanded demand for high-end equipment,pushing up the prices of related products.For example,prices in aircraft manufacturing rose 7.7 percent year-on-year in February,which he said was closely tied to the development of China's domestic commercial aviation sector.
Advances in industrial digitalization and green transformation have also supported price growth.With the rapid development of China's"AI Plus"initiative,prices of electronic components and electronic specialty materials rose 4.9 percent year-on-year in February,Fu noted,adding that recent increases in memory chip prices largely reflected rising domestic demand for computing power.
China will continue to expand domestic demand and optimize supply,develop new quality productive forces in line with local conditions,and further advance the building of a unified national market,Fu said.These efforts are intended to help bring industrial product prices back to a reasonable range,improve the circulation of the economy,and support the sustained and healthy development of the industrial sector,Fu added.
"In recent years,China has steadily advanced a strategy to diversify its energy imports,significantly reducing reliance on oil supplies from any single market,"Hu Qimu,deputy secretary-general of the Forum 50 for Digital-Real Economies Integration,told the Global Times on Monday.He added that cooperation with multiple regions has made China's crude import sources more geographically balanced,helping disperse geopolitical risks.
China's domestic energy production has remained stable.NBS data released on Monday showed that in January and February,coal output from industrial enterprises above the designated size held steady,crude oil production rose 1.9 percent year-on-year after reversing a previous decline,natural gas output increased 2.9 percent,and electricity generation grew 4.1 percent.
On the energy structure transition,China has made notable progress in developing new energy,with the installed capacity of renewable power generation already exceeding that of thermal power.
"This has fundamentally reduced reliance on traditional fossil fuels and strengthened the resilience of the energy system,"Hu said.
In 2025,newly added wind and solar power capacity exceeded 430 million kilowatts,with renewable energy accounting for more than 60 percent of total installed power generation capacity,while new-energy storage capacity surpassed 100 million kilowatts and accounted for more than 40 percent of the global total,ranking first in the world,NBS data showed.
Hu said that current volatility in international oil prices is largely driven by market panic and commercial inventory cycles rather than fundamental supply-demand shifts,suggesting the market's underlying fundamentals remain stable.Given China's diversified import sources,energy structure adjustments and ample reserves,the impact of the current geopolitical conflict on China's energy security remains limited and manageable,he noted.
