According to Wen, "Oil and natural gas are important strategic resources that influence the national economy, social development and state security. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and State Council attaches great importance to research on oil and natural gas strategy that supports sustainable development."

However, the Premier did acknowledge that before the formulating of an initiative of this size, the best people to ask were the experts in the field.

According to Wen, "In making plans and policies, the government would draw from the results of the deliberation sessions to make the plans and policies more scientific and practical [and that] the current administration has made it a system of soliciting views of experts from a wide range of sectors on important issues that influence the overall situation of economic and social development."

In short, what the Premier is saying is that China will not go charging into any policy like a bull in a china shop until it had got all of the facts.

Premier Wen was speaking to the 86 experts that have been working on the national initiative since the beginning of the year and was in Beijing on Thursday to hear progress reports on the formulation of a strategy on oil and gas resources.