ABSTRACT
Foreign trade affects domestic energy demand, and developed countries are reliant on developing countries for resources, and increasingly goods and services, in a globalised economy. Oil and coal exports embodied in the production of finished products bound for foreign shores—the "Made in China" phenomena—is the big story. In 1987, it appeared that China's foreign trade was finely balanced, but then the proportion of net exports increases rapidly. From both domestic and global perspectives, China's increasing demand for coal, and the subsequent imports that demand sucks in, will pose significant problems. Additional pressure will be brought to bear on domestic energy security, creating greater competition and uncertainty in global coal markets. China's coal consumption intensity has increased considerably, helping China reduce embodied coal exports to some extent. China also exports a lot of embodied resources, including oil products, to reduce the economic development costs of other countries.
