International input by leading experts will be considered in the drafting of China's first energy law, industry executives told China Daily on Friday.

According to Wu Zhonghu, a drafter, the draft law is expected to be submitted to the State Council later this year, following an international conference scheduled for next month.

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Zhou Feng'ao, another member of the law drafting team, noted that China's energy industry had its own particular features, but that made it all the more imperative for drafters to learn about the experiences of other countries.

He Yongjian, director of the strategy and planning department under the Office of National Energy Leading Group, said the law, the first of its kind in China, will be the overarching one for the country's energy industry and trade.

It will include matters dealing with energy planning, exploration, supply and service, utility and conservation, environmental protection, rural energy, reserves and technology innovation in exploration, He said.

At an industry symposium in Beijing yesterday, William E. Loveless, a US energy policy expert with Platts, an energy information provider, said that according to the US experience, the making of an energy law is "an extremely demanding job", since it involves compromises among different interest groups and industrial segments. It took the US four years to enact it.

He Yongnian admitted that Chinese drafters had already encountered a few obstacles.

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