Photo: Courtesy of the organizers of the 29th World Gas Conference

Foreign energy companies have said they would deepen cooperation in China's upstream and downstream industries and strengthen their connection with the Chinese market.

Wang Hongzhi, head of the National Energy Administration (NEA), met with visiting Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar's minister of state for energy affairs in Beijing on Wednesday, according to the official website of NEA on Friday. 

Wang said that China is willing to work with Qatar to strengthen communication and continuously improve the level of energy cooperation. Al-Kaabi said that China is one of the world's largest natural gas consumption markets and is growing rapidly. Qatar is willing to further strengthen exchanges with China, deepen cooperation in natural gas, renewable energy and other fields and promote the quality and upgrade of energy cooperation between the two countries.

These remarks were made during the 29th World Gas Conference (WGC2025) held from Monday to Friday in Beijing. As one of the three flagship events of the International Gas Union (IGU), the conference, known as the "Olympics" of the global gas industry held every three years, is the first time that the conference was held in China in nearly 100 years.

Li Yalan, president of the IGU, said in an exclusive interview with the Global Times on Thursday that this conference is a window for Chinese gas companies to showcase their development achievements over the years and build a bridge of friendship between China and the global energy industry. 

China is not only an extremely important strategic market for Petronas, but also a market that grows rapidly, Petronas LNG CEO Ezran Mahadzir told the Global Times in an interview on Thursday.  

For example, China's LNG demand reached 77 million tons in 2024, and by 2030, this figure is expected to exceed 100 million tons. This means one thing for us: We must continue to deepen our connection with the Chinese market and continuously increase our market share, he said.

As China continues to promote the policy of new energy and clean energy transformation, a large number of new participants, buyers and demands have emerged in the market. Whether it is urban gas projects, industrial energy use or cogeneration, many new projects are growing rapidly and showing strong development potential, he added. 

We have been deeply rooted in China for more than 20 years and look forward to taking this opportunity to strengthen ties, expand cooperation and consolidate and expand strategic partnerships and collaboration in this important market, he added. 

A drone photo shows a liquefied natural gas (LNG) container vessel docking at a LNG receiving terminal of China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec) in north China's Tianjin, Oct. 29, 2024. Photo: Xinhua

On Wednesday in a speech, Al-Kaabi, who is also the president and CEO of Qatar Energy, spoke highly of China's remarkable achievements in optimizing the energy structure and developing new energy, saying that China is not only an important partner of Qatar, but also a key force in global energy transformation. In the future, Qatar Energy will continue to deepen cooperation with China in upstream production, downstream transportation and related chemical industries, and promote the construction of a more open, diversified and stable global energy structure.

He said that Qatar is actively expanding its downstream industrial chain. The 128 LNG tankers built in cooperation with China have been delivered, which will further enhance the resilience and efficiency of the global supply chain.

As the cleanest fossil energy, natural gas is increasingly integrated with renewable energy and has become an important pillar for promoting the global low-carbon energy transformation. 

Currently, the Asia-Pacific region has become the core engine of global natural gas demand growth. China still has broad room for growth. Under the guidance of the "dual carbon" goal, it is expected that natural gas consumption will reach its peak around 2035, said Ma Yongsheng, chairman of Sinopec Corp, said on Wednesday. 

China has become the world's largest natural gas importer, with a huge demand for international energy and natural gas resources.

In the past decade, China's annual natural gas consumption has increased from less than 200 billion cubic meters to more than 426.05 billion cubic meters, with an average annual growth rate of 9.2 percent. China has become the world's fourth largest natural gas producer, third largest consumer, largest importer and largest LNG importer. The proportion of natural gas in China's energy structure has gradually increased, and is currently at 9 percent, according to Li from IGU.