Local governments in China are unable to afford maintaining normal supply volumes of natural gas after having spent most available resources on complying with the central government’s now-scrapped strict zero-covid policy, reports The New York Times.

Scant gas supply and ”alarmingly cold temperatures”, the newspaper writes, have angered millions of people and triggered a swathe of complaints posted on social media.

Natural gas is used throughout China to heat residences and organizations.

According to the US daily, many cities in the nation lack the money needed to maintain ample gas supply for households. People’s Republic has also reduced fuel subsidies used to temper heating bills.

Beijing has ordered local governments to provide heat to residents, however without sending accompanying economic aid, thus resulting in households supplied with only the minimal volume of fuel mandated for cooking and heating, writes New York Times. 

Several specialists cited by the media say the situation shows systemic weakness in China’s energy regulation and infrastructure, also exposing the market effect resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Historically, China has been able to maintain sufficient gas supply to get through the winter, but according to the newspaper quoting Yan Qin, London-based data firm Refinitiv’s senior modelling analyst and specialist in Chinese energy affairs, the problem preventing gas from reaching consumers is price controls combined with declining subsidization.