OPEC and China held the eighth High-Level Meeting of their Energy Dialogue in Beijing on 23 September, twenty years after the two sides first sat down together. OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais co-chaired with Wang Hongzhi, administrator of China's National Energy Administration. Li Song, China's ambassador and permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, delivered opening remarks by videoconference.
Why China stays on OPEC's agenda
OPEC's World Oil Outlook 2026 expects China to remain one of the largest contributors to global oil demand through 2050. The two sides used the meeting to review short-, medium- and long-term outlooks and to discuss oil market stability, energy security and the need for timely investment in the oil industry.
Hongzhi said the shifts underway in global energy make dialogue between producing and consuming nations essential. He said that since the dialogue mechanism began in 2005, the two sides have held seven High-Level Dialogues and three Roundtables, and that China wants to deepen practical cooperation with OPEC and its member countries.
Two decades of dialogue
Al Ghais called the relationship "an enduring framework for cooperation on energy issues of common interest." He said OPEC members have backed China's economic growth by supplying affordable, reliable energy, and thanked Hongzhi and the National Energy Administration team for hosting the meeting.
Both sides pledged to deepen technical and high-level collaboration. They agreed to hold the ninth High-Level Meeting of the OPEC-China Energy Dialogue in 2027, in Vienna, Austria.