Analysis: How Chinese media is covering the Iran energy crisis

<p>As the closure of the Strait of Hormuz wreaks havoc on fossil-fuel supplies across the world, a <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/03/23/climate-change-world-order-green-transition-fossil-fuel/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">prominent</a> narrative in <a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/power-switch/2026/03/05/clean-power-cushions-china-from-iran-oil-fallout-00814883" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">western</a> media has <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/13032026/china-clean-energy-coal-cushions-oil-dependence-iran-war/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">been</a> that <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/03/03/energy-markets-force-trump-end-his-reckless-war/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">low-carbon</a> energy has <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/25/iran-war-renewables-solar-wind-oil-gas-energy-strait-of-hormuz.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">helped</a> mitigate the <a href="https://responsiblestatecraft.org/china-energy-crisis/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">worst</a> of the <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/china-india-strait-of-hormuz-europe-east-asia-b2942321.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">impact</a> on China. </p>

<p>While Chinese-language media has featured similar arguments, it has also highlighted China&#8217;s coal industry and broader energy security narratives.</p>

<p>Below, Carbon Brief looks at how Chinese news outlets have covered the implications of the US and Israel war with Iran on energy use.</p>

<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Justification for ‘new energy’ system</h2>

<p>As the conflict has intensified, several Chinese-language outlets have put the spotlight on China’s clean-energy infrastructure.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The tensions highlight the “importance” of energy security and the energy transition, writes Bo’ao forum secretary-general Zhang Jun in a commentary for the Communist party-affiliated <a href="https://world.people.com.cn/n1/2026/0329/c1002-40690819.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">People’s Daily</a>.  </p>

<p>The <a href="https://m.cyol.com/gb/articles/2026-03/25/content_gGXaGEhlyY.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">China Youth Daily</a>, a party-run newspaper oriented towards younger readers, says the conflict has “exacerbated” fragile energy supply chains, underscoring the need to “develop ‘<a href="https://interactive.carbonbrief.org/glossary/china/index.html#section-new-energy" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">new energy</a>’ sources for energy security”.</p>

<p>Building “localised” clean-energy capacity is a “strategic necessity”, as well as an important aspect of climate action, writes Wang Ning, associate researcher at the government-affiliated <a href="https://www.caitec.org.cn/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Institute of World Economy</a> in the state-supporting <a href="https://m.huanqiu.com/article/4Qs1aHTDl4i" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Global Times</a>.</p>

<p>Meanwhile, Liu Ying, research fellow at Renmin University’s <a href="http://rdcy.ruc.edu.cn/zw/zw_sy/index.htm" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies</a>, tells state news agency <a href="https://www.news.cn/world/20260317/2164557d89594613a56d64d4fdd26f58/c.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Xinhua</a> that China is well-placed to benefit if the crisis catalyses a “restructuring of the global energy order” and hastens uptake of solar and wind power.</p>

<p>Echoing this sentiment, WeChat account <a href="https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/iYlvBiAKYM6HBe5GBG9rag" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Photovoltaic News</a>, which is run by an unnamed individual, says: “New energy is precisely the core of China’s strength.”</p>

<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Coal is king?</h2>

<p>However, the broader commentary on the war has tended to emphasise China’s “<a href="https://www.oxfordenergy.org/publications/oies-podcast-china-iran-and-the-five-year-plan/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">all-of-the-above</a>” approach to the energy transition.</p>

<p>State broadcaster <a href="https://tv.cctv.com/2026/04/06/VIDEHz58xfVjJbgnh7LqP63r260406.shtml" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">CCTV</a> ran a segment on 6 April underscoring Chinese president Xi Jinping’s focus on the “need to accelerate the planning and construction of a new energy system to ensure energy security”. The broadcast did not explicitly mention the conflict.</p>

<p>It said Xi also emphasised “<a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/china-briefing-2-april-2026-ev-profits-rise-ming-yang-rejected-iran-war/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">coordinating</a>” hydropower development with ecological conservation, “actively” building nuclear power in a “safe and orderly manner” and ensuring energy supply by “strengthening” development of the energy system across production, supply, storage and sales.</p>

<p>A “greener, more diversified and more resilient” energy system will “provide a strong guarantee for China’s energy security and economic development”, CCTV added, but it also emphasised the need to develop “clean and efficient” fossil fuels.</p>

<p>A “sharp commentary” in the <a href="http://opinion.people.com.cn/n1/2026/0324/c436867-40687984.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">People’s Daily</a> – a designation for <a href="http://opinion.people.com.cn/GB/436867/index.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">comments</a> that the newspaper finds important – says that a range of initiatives, from “diversified energy imports” to “vigorous development of green energy” allowed China to “secure its energy supply” and “take the initiative in energy security”.</p>

<p>Similarly, an editorial in commercial news outlet <a href="https://www.21jingji.com/article/20260318/9687d1548cb7ce625a39f67fbc375aea.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">21st Century Business Herald</a> says that China is “less likely to face direct impacts from this oil crisis” because of its reliance on both coal and renewables. </p>

<p>It also notes the opportunity that the conflict represented in terms of greater global demand for Chinese clean-energy technology.</p>

<p>Coal’s role in the energy mix as a “ballast” and “peak-shaving” tool “continues to strengthen”, says economic news outlet <a href="https://www.jiemian.com/article/14095370.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Jiemian</a> – although the outlet also acknowledges China’s “vigorous” clean-energy additions.</p>

<p>Pro-coal accounts on WeChat especially emphasise the fuel’s role in the crisis.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Coal will “continue to serve as the cornerstone of energy supply”, says <a href="https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/dQBOseSpPEg8z7um_n9I0g" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Coal Vision</a>, a WeChat account run by <a href="https://m.qcc.com/mlogin?back=%2Ffirm%2Ff65e975e8e57b1b8c497ca7bd7201caa.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Xiamen Zhengzhuo Trading</a>, a firm that trades coal and other commodities. </p>

<p>Similarly, <a href="https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/DI23KBnDlP8IgkAjd6HEHQ" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Guizhou Coal Data</a> argues: “When a real emergency strikes, you have to ask: which energy source do we truly control? There’s only one answer: coal.” The account is run by the information services firm <a href="https://www.zhaopin.com/companydetail/CZ392124430.htm" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Guizhou Yuteng Coal Industry Big Data Information Center</a>.</p>

<p>Several outlets also highlight China’s efforts to secure gas supplies from elsewhere.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Wen Shaoqing, columnist at nationalist outlet <a href="https://www.guancha.cn/wenshaoqing/2026_03_24_811153.shtml" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Guancha</a>, writes that an <a href="https://english.www.gov.cn/news/202603/18/content_WS69ba7d48c6d00ca5f9a09fbd.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">agreement</a> between China and Turkmenistan shortly after the conflict began that reaffirmed plans to develop a new gas pipeline represented a “strategic” move to secure the “nation’s survival”.</p>

<p>Notably, <a href="https://www.guancha.cn/internation/2026_03_16_810252.shtml?s=zwyzxw" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">two</a> articles in <a href="https://www.guancha.cn/internation/2026_03_20_810734.shtml?s=zwyxgtjbt" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Guancha</a> summarising foreign outlets’ coverage of China’s response – both emphasising the role renewable energy played in insulating China from the energy shock – also received more than 100,000 views.</p>

<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Security in coal chemicals&nbsp;</h2>

<p>Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.news.cn/energy/20260320/6576a644c7404e40bd672b9bb718077d/c.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Xinhua</a> has published an article on “turning China’s advantage in coal resources into an advantage in developing natural gas”, although it does not explicitly mention Iran. </p>

<p>It adds that the head of China’s state-owned <a href="http://ptrcbm.cnpc.com.cn/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">PetroChina Coalbed Methane Co</a> has argued that <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-how-changes-to-coal-mining-have-affected-chinas-methane-emissions/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">coalbed methane</a> could “propel China from [being] an energy giant to an energy powerhouse”.</p>

<p>Shortly after the Xinhua article was published, <a href="https://www.jiemian.com/article/14161993.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Jiemian</a> said China had a responsibility to develop coalbed methane to “secure our energy self-sufficiency”.</p>

<p>Similarly, several news outlets have covered the “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/chinas-coal-chemicals-sector-cashes-iran-war-crushes-petrochemical-competitors-2026-03-25/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">boon</a>” that the war might be for China’s <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-chinas-co2-emissions-have-now-been-flat-or-falling-for-21-months/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">coal-chemical</a> industry.</p>

<p>An article posted by WeChat account <a href="https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/Tqskv9JitWEeL4fo54JIKg" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Xinghai Intelligence Bureau</a> argues that China’s development of a coal-chemical industry, rather than “new energy”, is what prepared it for “worst-case scenarios” such as the war. The account is run by technology media company <a href="https://www.qichamao.com/orgcompany/searchitemdtl/632ba4464bf8ce9287d90387c7661522.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Beijing Lightspeed Time Network Technology</a>.</p>

<p>Finance news outlet <a href="https://finance.eastmoney.com/a/202603233680284889.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">EastMoney</a> says that the “strategic value” of China’s coal-chemical industry will likely rise “against the backdrop of growing global instability”.</p>

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<p>The post <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-how-chinese-media-is-covering-the-iran-energy-crisis/">Analysis: How Chinese media is covering the Iran energy crisis</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org">Carbon Brief</a>.</p>