China's breakneck economic growth and soaring energy demand are behind recent announcements by the Chinese government that China is set to improve the investment environment for the power industry and maintain appropriate construction scale of power facilities to ensure a balanced power supply in five years.

The strategic plan from the National Development and Reform Commission shows that between 2006-2010, 500-600 billion RMB per annum will be invested for power generation, and 500-600 billion RMB for grid construction in these five years. This will mean that the total amount of new power generation capacity in these 5 years for large and mid size projects will be more than 150 GW.

The total electricity generation capacity installed in China at the end of 2004 was 440 GW. With a growth of 70 GW in the last year alone, China had an installed capacity exceeding 500 GW. This placed China as the second largest country in the world in terms of capacity installed. The total electricity generation capacity installed will reach around 750 GW in 2010, and around 1200 GW in 2020, according to the official forecast.

In the first 11 months of 2005, China produced 2.180 trillion KWh, increasing 12.9% year on year, but in the first half of 2005, 26 provincial power grids imposed caps on power use, as power shortages are still prevalent.

Just over 30% of global equipment orders between 2005 and 2008 will come from China and with 144 power plants currently under construction, the opportunities for companies to supply to this booming market are considerable.

The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), also know as the China Chamber of International Commerce (CCOIC), was established in 1952. Over the past five decades, CCPIT has emerged as the largest and most important organization in China for the promotion of foreign trade, investment and related issues.

CCPIT’s network is spread across China and the World, with 50 Regional Sub-Councils, 19 Industrial Sub-Councils and nearly 700 local branches. CCPIT has 18 international representative offices with six in Europe. With more than 70,000 members in China and with its international reach, CCPIT has become not only a gateway for Chinese companies to gain international access but also a platform for foreign companies to enter China’s market.

The organisation’s business scope covers exhibitions, international relations, economic information, and legal affairs. It is authorized by the government to ratify, administrate and supervise the whole country’s organization of and participation in international trade fairs and exhibitions. CCPIT is a member of the Bureau of International Expositions (B.I.E.) and the Union des Foires International (UFI).

CCPIT has established close relations with more than 200 chambers of commerce, industry bodies and trade promotion organizations around the world. It also represents China in International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and is a member of many other international organizations such the Pacific Basin Economic Council (PBEC).

CCPIT provides legal services including intellectual property rights (IPR) agency and alternative dispute resolutions (ADR). China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) and China International Maritime Arbitration Commission (CIMAC) are renowned arbitration centres.

CCPIT has a series of publications including market reports, newspapers and magazines.

David Flin spent a number of years working for GEC (now Alstom) as a commissioning engineer. He was responsible for helping to write the Operation and Maintenance Manuals for their power plants

After 10 years, he moved into business-business publishing and became Deputy Editor and then Editor of Electricity International and Asian Power. Electricity International was published 12 times a year for the world market, while Asian Power was published 9 times a year in English for the Asian market, and 3 times a year in Chinese for the China market.

This was followed by a move to Modern Power Systems, and then to Nuclear Engineering International. David then became a Consultant Editor for the whole of the Wilmington Energy Group, and Acting Editor of ReGen magazine. His expertise and knowledge of the power sector is considerable and he brings a great deal of expertise to this project.