中国天然气价格市场化改革进展与建议OACHSSCD

Over recent decades,China has achieved substantial progress in both the institutional framework and practical implementation of natural gas marketization.Nevertheless,a broadly accepted competitive benchmark price for natural gas has yet to be established.Through a comparative review of the latest developments and underlying factors in benchmark price formation in the European Union and the United States,this paper argues that the formation of a natural gas benchmark price hinges on such three essential conditions as a well-functioning and robust market-based mechanism,standardized rules and operational procedures for natural gas trading on exchanges,and a favorable window of low natural gas prices.Advancing natural gas market reform in China requires further strengthening infrastructure operations and scheduling,ensuring efficient coordination of natural gas products,and enhancing third-party collaborative supervision.Trading centers must accelerate the standardization of natural gas products,strengthen transaction information disclosure and oversight,and introduce more settlement price indices based on actual trades.China is expected to enter a period of low natural gas prices between 2026 and 2027.It is recommended to capitalize on this favorable window to deepen natural gas pricing reform and foster the emergence of a domestic benchmark price with international influence.