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China’s transition to an urban-industrial society relies predominantly on its abundant domestic coal supplies and, secondly, on an increase in oil and gas imports. For this reason, China’s strategic investments in the oil and gas industries of resource-rich, energy-exporting countries have vastly increased. Given the high levels of import-dependency, the domestic power-wealth structures in China rely on uninterrupted supplies from beyond state borders. In their search for supply security, major import-dependent actors have two options. One is to reduce dependency by, for instance, higher energy efficiency. Another option is to increase the security of energy imports. This requires improving supply security from resource-rich oil- and gas-exporting countries and regions. The significant growth in the overseas assets and activities of China’s state-led National Oil Companies (nocs) are crucial to China’s energy supply security. In this study we argue that the transnational activities of Chinese nocs are part of the country’s so-called ‘statist’, state-led economic globalization, in the course of which some developing economies have become global political powers. In this paper we outline the approach and the conceptual foundations to understand geopolitical economy of energy security in China based on the following section: [1] the unit of analysis in the Political Economy of Energy. [2] Sequential industrialization and its global impacts, [3] Fossil fuel security and resource-scarcity, [4] China’s power structure, state class, and industrialization, [5] Industrialization, lateral pressure, the geopolitical economy and China’s external relations [6] National oil companies: changing the game.

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There are many promising renewable energy (RE) technologies that could help increase the contribution of RE in energy supply but which are not yet commercially available. The development rate of new RE technologies depends on many factors, such as Research and Development (R&D) efforts and policies. This study focuses on comparing China’s efforts regarding the development of new RE technologies (e.g., wave and tidal, binary geothermal power, floating solar, micro hydro, osmotic energy, floating offshore wind and vertical axis wind turbines) with those of the European Union (EU). For this purpose, we collected data from publications and databases and analysed several indicators: e.g., the development of renewable electricity generation and capacity, demonstration projects, investments in R&D and patent applications. The results show that China has become a big player globally for mainstream renewable electricity (hydropower, wind and solar PV). This development is due to China’s industrial policy and prioritization of effectiveness over cost efficiency. The main developments in China occurred in the 2010s, while the EU was a frontrunner in the 2000s. For the newer or less mainstream technologies, the application in China is still low, compared to the EU, except for floating solar, where China is a lead player. Regarding patent applications, China has shown a higher application amount compared to the EU since 2006. However, only a small share of China’s patents are valid internationally. We conclude that China has emerged as a big player in mainstream renewable energy technologies over the last decade. In regard to new renewable energy technologies, China is predominantly involved in solar energy and, in comparison to the EU, less in other new technologies (e.g., binary geothermal systems and ocean energy).