Against the backdrop of geopolitical turbulence and disruptions to global energy supply chains stemming from tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, China has forged a distinctive path that balances development needs with energy security through a coordinated "new energy plus electrification" strategy - a path that now offers valuable lessons for nations worldwide, analysts said.

　　Path of cooperation

　　Lu, who grew up in rural areas in East China"s Jiangsu Province, still remembers studying in the 1970s and 1980s by the flickering light of a kerosene lamp with a curvy glass chimney, once widely used in the country. The fragile yet indispensable lamps were once sold in China by US oil giant Standard Oil, which entered the Chinese market a century ago with the slogan "Oil for China"s Lamps."

　　After China"s reform and opening-up, Standard Oil returned to China as ExxonMobil. In 2007, it formed a joint venture with Sinopec, Saudi Aramco, and the Fujian provincial government to build an integrated refining and ethylene project - China"s first fully integrated Chinese-foreign project in refining, chemicals, and marketing. In 2020, ExxonMobil launched a $10 billion wholly owned ethylene project in Huizhou, South China"s Guangdong Province, which came on stream in 2025.

　　Lu noted that China and the US have never had a direct structural rivalry in the energy sector; rather, they have experienced a "differentiated competition." When the US was the world"s largest oil importer, China"s economy was still small; when China became the largest importer, the US had turned into a major exporter, creating a complementary resource-and-market relationship.