China could use its world-biggest foreign exchange reserves to set up a fund focused on expanding overseas energy resource exploration, Chinese media reported yesterday.
Separately, the government was looking at other ways to help finance Chinese companies to invest in, or take over, foreign energy firms, the China Oil News and other Chinese newspapers said.
These measures were part of an industry development plan for the next three years unveiled at a recent National Energy Work Conference that looked at boosting China’s oil and gas output.
The China Oil News, run by the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC, 中石油), the country’s largest oil producer, first reported the plans on Monday. It gave no further details about the fund or when it may be set up.
Global markets and Chinese investors are eager to see how the government plans to use its vast forex reserves which stood at US$1.95 trillion at the end of last year, up 27.3 percent from the previous year.
The China Business News said yesterday that with world oil prices off record highs and down to between US$30 and US$40 a barrel, the fund and the other potential measures would ease financial pressures for Chinese energy firms.
An unnamed senior official with CNPC also said it was a good time for asset purchases and the company remained interested in overseas acquisition this year, the report said.
China has become increasingly keen on seeking overseas natural resources to fuel its rapid economic growth.
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