China leads push for energy club

China is advocating an “energy club” with former Soviet Union states to open new sources of energy for its ravenous economy.

This semi-official group is expected to be a multilateral platform for energy cooperation. National Energy Administration official Wei Xiaowei said an energy club will allow Shanghai Cooperation Organization members and observers to expand and support energy cooperation.

The SCO, founded in Shanghai in 2001, consists of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Olga Yudina, chief expert with Russia's Ministry of Energy, said there is a great deal of room for Russia-China energy cooperation under the SCO framework.

Uzbekistan and China have maintained close cooperation in the energy sector, and many Chinese companies have worked on clean energy projects in Uzbekistan.