Assessing the Level of Energy Security of China: Evidence from TOPSIS-entropy Weight Method

As the economic scale continues to grow, issues related to China's energy supply security have become increasingly severe. Energy security remains a crucial concern in China's development. Especially in the face of the international turmoil in recent years, for China, an economy with high dependence on foreign energy, the risk of energy security stability is inevitably transmitted to other economic fields, causing a series of problems. This study quantitatively evaluates China's energy security over the period from 2013 to 2022. Based on 35 specific indicators of China's energy industry, an index system of energy security, comprising four dimensions – energy production, consumption, environmental impact, and energy supply – and the TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution) entropy method, has been adopted. The results show that the overall condition of energy security in China is at an upper-middle level, with notable differences across various dimensions. The coordination of energy production, consumption, environmental impact, and energy supply faces challenges due to multiple factors. In terms of energy production and consumption, China’s energy security exhibits relatively higher levels of sustainable development, while the environment and energy supply dimensions face significantly more difficulties, revealing the urgency of sustainable development in China's energy sector: under the dual pressures of maintaining economic growth as well as protecting the environment, increasing policy support for the renewable energy industry and increasing its share of the energy production and consumption structure is a feasible solution. It is recommended to promote reforms in energy technology, international energy cooperation and innovation to provide diversified guarantees for China's energy security.