Natural gas consumption in China is forecast to grow 9% to 183 billion cubic meters (bcm) this year, the first single-digit growth since 2007, experts said during the Third Asian Gas Market Forum in Beijing on December 17.

China’s gas consumption will rise only about 8% on average each year during the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020), said Qian Xingkun, vice-president of CNPC Economics and Technology Research Institute, an energy think tank run by the China National Petroleum Corp.

Gas consumption will continue rising, but it won't reach the levels that were previously forecast by the government. Consumption will be 200 bcm in 2015 and 300 bcm in 2020, Qian said.

Natural gas demand in China has increased in recent years, due to rapid economic growth and environmental protection efforts. Consumption growth exceeded 10% in 2007 and reached some 20% by 2011, pushing up imports.

Even last year, demand was still expanding relatively rapidly. China used 168 bcm of natural gas in 2013 with annual growth of 13.9%. Imports for the first time accounted for more than 30% of the market.

But consumption growth has slowed in tandem with weaker economic expansion. China used 63.2 bcm of natural gas in the first half of this year, up 7.5% year on year, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

Wang Zhigang, senior vice-president of China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec), said that the nation's gas consumption structure is improving as its growth slows.

Sinopec has "ambitious" shale gas development plans for the 13th Five-Year Plan period. It aims to achieve annual output of 10 bcm by 2020, according to Wang.