TTLV: China's energy diplomacy in the early 21st century

MASTER'S THESIS INFORMATION

1. Student's full name: NGUYEN THI LOAN 2. Gender: Female

3. Date of birth: February 27, 1977

4. Place of birth: Thanh Hoa

5. Decision on recognition of students No. 2797/QD-XHNV-SDH dated December 28, 2012 of the President of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi

6. Changes in the training process:

(record the forms of change and the corresponding time)

7. Thesis topic: China's energy diplomacy in the early 21st century

8. Major: International Relations; Code: 60310206

9. Scientific advisor: Dr. Le Van My

Institute of Chinese Studies – Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences

10. Summary of thesis results:

The thesis researches 3 contents: China's energy security needs, current situation and strategy; China's energy diplomacy strategy in the first decade of the 21st century; China's energy diplomacy strategy in the next 10 years, the impacts on the region and Vietnam. The results of this research have clarified the overall picture of China's energy diplomacy in the early years of the 21st century.

Although China has abundant natural resources, with the strong development of the national economy in recent years, China's demand for energy consumption is increasing. Meanwhile, domestic supply cannot meet the current increasing demand. In addition to coal and gas, oil is extremely important for China's development. Due to the exploitation and use of too much energy for economic development, China's energy resources are gradually depleted. Therefore, China has proposed an energy security strategy based on domestic production and external support. To compensate for the shortage of domestic energy sources, China has been actively seeking external energy sources to ensure its "rise" through the strategy of "energy diplomacy". China is targeting neighboring countries such as Russia and countries in Central Asia, Southeast Asia and further to countries in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. Energy diplomacy is a new direction of China's foreign policy, initiated by the fourth generation of Chinese leaders, headed by President Hu Jintao, and continued by the fifth generation of leaders led by Chinese President Xi Jinping. This is a major shift in China's strategy to ensure a stable external energy supply, along with establishing and strengthening China's position in the international arena.

11. Practical application:

Vietnam can learn from China's energy security strategy in formulating energy security policies.

12. Further research directions:

China’s energy diplomacy is a topic that has been more or less mentioned in research works in Vietnam, China as well as in the world. However, up to now, there has not been an in-depth research work on China’s energy diplomacy in the early years of the 21st century. Therefore, it is necessary to continue researching this issue.

13. Published works related to the thesis:

INFORMATION ON MASTER'S THESIS

1. Full name: NGUYEN THI LOAN 2. Sex: Female

3. Date of birth: February 27, 1977 4. Place of birth: Thanh Hoa,Vietnam

5. Admission decision number: 2797/QD-XHNV-SDH, Dated 28^thDecember 2012

6. Changes in academic process: ..........................................................................................

(List the forms of change and corresponding times)

7. Official thesis title: China's energy diplomacy in the early years of the 21st^stcentury.

8. Major: International Relations 9. Code: 60310206

10. Supervisors: Le Van My, Dr – China Research Institute – Vietnam Social Sciences Institute

11. Summary of the findings of the thesis:

This thesis is divided into three parts: Needs, current situation and the energy security strategy of China; its strategy for energy diplomacy in the first decade of the 21st^stcentury; its strategy for energy diplomacy in the next decade and its impacts on the region and Vietnam. This document provides the comprehensive examination of China's energy diplomacy in the early years of this century.

In spite of the fact that China owns abundant natural resources, owing to its dramatic economic growth in recent years, its energy consumption volume has been increasing. Meanwhile, its domestic supply could not satisfy its highly expending requirement of energy in the present. Besides coal and gas, oil is also very important to China's development. Due to over-exploitation and over-use of energy for its economic development, the energy supply in China has been running out. This leads China to establish a new energy security strategy which emphasizes the major role of the domestic supply and the supporting role of the external sources. China has been determinedly seeking for the external energy supplies to fuel its “rising” through its energy diplomacy in order to compensate for the shortage of its domestic capacity. China has been looking at its neighbors such as Russia and the Middle Asian nations, the Southeast Asia and the further distant regions like the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. The energy diplomacy is its new diplomatic approach initiated by its 4^thgeneration of leadership under the Ex-President Hu Jintao and being continuously promoted by its 5^thgeneration under the leadership of thePresidentXi Jinping. This is considered to be a significant strategic transformation of China to maintain its external energy supply sources as well as set up and improve its international status.

12. Practical applicability, if any: China's energy security strategy would be a good reference to Vietnam in making its energy security policy.

13. Further research directions, if any: To a certain extent, China's energy diplomacy has been mentioned more or less in some research works in Vietnam, China and around the world. However, up to date, there has not been any full-study of China's energy diplomacy in the early years of the 21^stcentury. Therefore, it is necessary to further research it.