China considering promoting ethanol use

Beijing could set a target by the end of this year to include ethanol in the nation's energy mix, the newspaper said, citing Fabrizio Zichichi, head of ethanol at Noble Group.

Zichichi told the newspaper that government policymakers had informed him of this possibility on a recent trip to China.

Such a move would indicate crucial political support for investment in the production, import and distribution of the biofuel in China and could have an impact on world ethanol prices, which analysts said will soon peak on current consumption patterns, the newspaper said.

China is the third-largest ethanol producer in the world behind the US and Brazil.

'It makes sense for Beijing to look closely at ethanol. Not only will it help the country wean itself off its dependence on oil and coal but a large ethanol market in China could help spread wealth to the rural poor, as Brazil has shown,' the newspaper quoted Zichichi as saying.