By Elishya Perera
SYDNEY, Australia (CWBN)_ Amidst below-freezing winter temperatures, tens of millions of people across the southern regions in China are facing power-shortages, which has sparked debates over the impact of Beijing’s ban on Australian coal imports.
Last week, Chinese officials admitted that there will be a shortage in several provinces in the southern region of China, as demand sours due to the unusually cold weather which is expected to hit as low as minus 10 degrees Celsius.
Official media says some areas in Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Hunan provinces are experiencing a shortfall in coal supplies, and residents, businesses and factories in these highly industrialised provinces have been requested to ration electricity, with authorities ordering a temperature cap on indoor heating at entertainment venues, as well as instructing outdoor lighting on buildings, including billboards, to power off for long periods each day.
Meanwhile, Australian media gloats that Beijing’s ban Australian coal imports has led to this shortage. According to the data provided by the National Bureau of Statistics of China, coal from Canberra accounted for only about 3 per cent of Beijing’s total coal imports of 265 million tonnes in 2019.
Yan Qin, carbon analyst at financial data service Refinitiv, also insists that while the ban had little effect on China’s coal supply, however, trade tensions between the two countries has driven up domestic coal prices owing to worries in the commodities markets.
Nevertheless, a director at the China Huadian Corporation, one of the nation’s largest energy groups, said that the import restrictions are “enough to change the industry”, and experts point out that many local power plants which depend on Australian coal are having trouble finding an alternative, owing to the high quality and efficiency of coal imports from Canberra.
Last month, 50 ships laden with Australian coal imports worth more than $500 million were seen stranded at sea, while waiting to enter Chinese ports, and Beijing said the delay was owing to stronger testing and examinations being conducted on the imports. Subsequently on December 13, The Global Times, a state media outlet of the Chinese Communist Party, reported that Beijing is restricting coal imports from Australia and prioritising imports from Mongolia, Indonesia and Russia.
The communist superpower has blamed Australia for the growing diplomatic row, following Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s calls for investigations on the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic which emerged from Wuhan, China. However, Morrison claims that it was correct to stand up for the country’s liberal democratic values, and challenged critics to determine “which one of Australia’s national sovereign interests … the government should have traded away” to appease the communist superpower.
Apart from coal, several Australian agricultural and resources exports, including wine, barley, lobster, beef and timber, are facing restrictions from Beijing.
