The recent oil crisis in the southern province of Guangdong, triggered by a climbing oil price and acute electricity shortage, revealed the problem of energy security in China's economic development.

Guaranteeing oil supply and energy security has become the essential premise for China to achieve its strategic economic goal, said experts attending the just-concluded 21st Century Forumin Beijing.

Zmarak Shalizi, an economist from the research center of the World Bank, said energy demand in China has exceeded the nation's capacity of supply.

The growth of energy consumption in China is likely to approachthe growth rate of the gross domestic products (GDP) in the comingdecade, he said.

In the past 20 years, China's GDP quadrupled while its energy consumption doubled. In 2004, when China's GDP grew 9.5 percent, the nation produced more than 1.9 billion tons of coal and became the world's second largest oil consumer and third largest oil importer.

Pressure imposed by energy shortages may hinder both short-termand long-term economic growth, which will in turn greatly affect the welfare and living standard of the people, said Shalizi.

A delegate from the Pearl River Delta in south China, which includes the Guangdong Province, talked of his frustrating experience at the local gas stations. He failed to get gas after visiting several stations and spending hours in the queues.

"It is incogitable how will China operate its engine of economywithout an unceasing energy supply," he said.

The experts attending the forum agreed that China should focus on both energy exploration and energy saving. They said China should actively look for new energy to diversify its energy resources, and control its soaring energy demand to cope with energy shortages.

Feng Qin, an engineer with the British MSL oceanic oil engineering company, said that China should make greater efforts to broaden its import sources of oil.

Currently, more than half of China's oil comes from the Middle East, and any crisis there may directly affect China's oil imports.

He also suggested China invest in research and on exploring newenergy.

"Diversified energy is key to a nation's energy security,"he said.

Du Xiangwan, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that China could make efforts to develop wind power, hydropower, biologic power, geothermic power and oceanic power.

"China will achieve sustainable development on the basis of diversified energy resources," he said, noting that China should insist on energy-saving development at the same time.

Statistics showed that about 80 percent of China's one-off energy is consumed by electricity generation, metallurgy, construction materials, chemicals and transportation. The average energy consumption per product in China is 20 percent more than that in the developed nations.