Li Zhaoxing was in Anchorage yesterday, where he said China no longer can meet its domestic energy needs. He says China has become an oil-importing country. Li will be in Alaska for a couple of days and among other things, he will be touring the North Slope to get a better look at BP Exploration' s operations there. The companies also said they would build or buy gasoline stations and might expand into aviation fuels. Natural gas meets just 2 percent of China's energy needs, but the government wants to increase that to 7 percent to 8 percent by 2010.
China is Alaska's fourth largest trade partner.