The delegations were headed by HE Minister Ma Kai, Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, People’s Republic of China, and HE Sheikh Ahmad Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, the OPEC President and Secretary General, who is also Kuwait’s Minister of Energy.

The purpose of the Energy Dialogue is to establish a balanced, pragmatic framework for cooperation, and to develop an ongoing exchange of views at all levels on energy issues of common interest, in particular security of supply and demand, in order to enhance market stability.

China’s economic growth requires secure, steady supplies of energy, while OPEC’s crude oil reserves and production are expected to continue growing, ensuring that there will be enough oil to meet rising world demand for decades to come. Some of OPEC’s Member Countries also have substantial quantities of gas.

The Energy Dialogue covers broad issues and will build upon the existing oil and gas bilateral investment and trading relations between China and many OPEC Member Countries. In doing so, it will provide an insight into critical global energy issues as well as identify potential areas for cooperation.

Both parties believe that effective producer-consumer dialogue provides a “win-win” situation for all participants, as well as for the industry as a whole.

The framework for the China-OPEC Energy Dialogue was set-up at today’s meeting, determining its objectives, scope, modalities and overall structure. It was stressed that there should be a pragmatic and sustained process of dialogue, that would maintain its momentum at all times, regardless of short-term developments in the market.

It was agreed that there would be meetings at Ministerial level at mutually convenient times, as well as technical exchanges. Both parties will hold a high-level technical roundtable in Vienna in the first half of 2006.