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China is very likely to overcome the energy bottleneck by tapping its own mineral resources, said a Chinese official at a forum being held over the weekend in Weihai City, east China's Shandong Province.

Zhang Hongtao, deputy director of the China Geological Survey under the Ministry of Land and Resources, made the remarks at the East Asian Investment Forum, reports China Daily on Monday.

According to Zhang, China has only tapped a fraction of its natural resources with vast reserves yet to be discovered and exploited.

By defining China as a nation with "plenty of options" to satiate its energy needs, Zhang said it was reasonable to be confident in finding new domestic resources.

Zhang's confidence was justified by the fact that two of the world's three major mineral rich metallogenic belts span across the country's vast western region and the country is now technically ready to mine deeper in this region.

In addition to making individual mining efforts, China is also expected to strengthen cooperation with other East Asian nations to build an energy security framework.

Zhou Dadi, director of the energy research institute under the National Development and Reform Commission, said at the same forum that cooperation projects should include the development of oil and gas resources, pipeline construction, fund-raising for energy projects, integrated energy policies and technology exchanges.