China Achieves Major Milestones in Energy Transition

Beijing, 30 August 2024 (TDI): China has made substantial strides in its energy transition over the past decade, achieving “historical breakthroughs” in green and low-carbon energy development, according to a white paper titled “China’s Energy Transition,” released by the State Council Information Office on Thursday.

The white paper outlines a series of notable achievements in China’s shift towards a clean, diversified, secure, and resilient energy supply system.

Among the milestones highlighted, clean energy accounted for nearly 40 percent of the country’s total electricity generation last year.

Additionally, China’s exports of wind and photovoltaic (PV) products helped other countries reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 810 million tons in 2023.

Observers have noted that China’s approach to energy transition offers a cost-effective and economically viable model with far-reaching implications for the global energy sector. The country’s progress is attributed to continuous innovation and a comprehensive industrial chain, challenging the notion that its growth is primarily driven by subsidies.

The white paper also emphasizes China’s commitment to fulfilling its responsibilities as a major developing country and its readiness to collaborate with other nations to maintain stable global energy supply chains and ensure energy security in an open and cooperative environment.

China’s green energy development has become an engine for global energy transition, a white paper said Thursday. pic.twitter.com/2ujdk7FBwn

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) August 29, 2024

China Accelerates Clean Energy Development

According to the document, China has accelerated its clean energy development, with green energy forming an increasing share of its energy mix.

Lin Boqiang, Director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, remarked that China has led the global energy transition over the past decade, both in terms of the speed of transformation and the expansion of new energy production capacity.

Building on this momentum, Chinese officials and industry experts have expressed confidence in China’s ability to meet its “dual carbon” goals of peaking carbon emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.

Cao Heping, an economist at Peking University, noted that China’s success in energy transition serves as a model for developing countries and offers a lesson to developed countries, some of which have shown signs of retreat from their climate goals amid recent global energy shortages.

China’s progress in this arena underscores its commitment to the global green agenda, setting a strong example for other nations in their energy transition efforts.