In my book I show China’s imports, overseas deals and its goals to tap into its huge shale gas reserves and the way it is trying to implement the process – facing much more difficult geological conditions than in the USA. But also barring access to foreign companies.
Some experts have doubts China can achieve the targets set, being 80 billion m³ (bcm) by 2020, or 23% of total expected demand. Until now, it has not yet started commercial production.
Experts contacted by Bloomberg have now reduced their estimate for 2020 to rather 18 bcm.
According to U.S. specialists (and they are the only ones who have the technology and expertise), China needs to invest more in exploration and development of the projects, and should relax fuel price controls.
Under the present conditions, foreign entities have very limited access to the projects, not allowed to bid directly for the blocks and playing subcontractor while Chinese companies involved in winning bids seem to have little or no expertise: there is limited enthusiasm to invest with the current low price ceilings.
That could well mean that China will continue to massively import natural gas; it is spending US$17 billion a year on imports of natural gas, mostly in the form of LNG (US$8.3 billion in 2012), mainly from Australia and other countries. It also has thousands of kilometers of  natural gas pipelines coming from other countries, through western or northern provinces.
As said, with the low quality of the winning bids the companies involved are raising the question in how far they will do it right and not cutting corners.