China 's new leader has taken extraordinary steps to secure future energy supplies . President Xi Jinping 's first state visit was to ink an energy deal with Russia . Follows a spate of Chinese oil and gas investments in Africa , the Middle East and Australia . Comment:
China 's new leader has taken extraordinary steps to secure future energy supplies . President Xi Jinping 's first state visit was to ink an energy deal with Russia . Follows a spate of Chinese oil and gas investments in Africa , the Middle East and Australia . China overtook the United States as the world 's biggest energy user in 2009 .