China has made remarkable achievements in pursuing green and low-carbon development in its energy sector over the past decade, according to a white paper issued Thursday.
As China continuously pushed reform of its energy production and consumption methods and upgraded its energy supply capacity, its clean energy development has been put on a fast track, according to the white paper titled "China's Energy Transition."
"The white paper expounds on the fundamental principles guiding China's energy transition. It prioritizes people above all else, always prioritizes fulfilling people's aspirations for a better life. It upholds pursuing green and low-carbon development by accelerating the building of an energy supply system underpinned by non-fossil energy sources. It also stresses following national realities, persisting in innovation-driven development, and upholding opening-up and cooperation," Zhang Jianhua, director of the National Energy Administration, told a press conference in Beijing on Thursday.
China has achieved remarkable growth in renewable installations, with the share of energy consumption from clean energy sources rising significantly over the past decade, according to the data briefed by the official.
"By the end of 2023, the installed capacity of wind and solar power grew tenfold from a decade ago. Clean energy accounted for 58.2 percent of the total installed capacity. The newly increased electricity generated by clean energy claimed more than half of the increased amount of total societal energy consumption. The share of clean energy consumption in the total energy consumption jumped from 15.5 percent to 26.4 percent, while the share of coal consumption dropped by 12.1 percentage points," Zhang said.
The white paper also highlights achievements in clean and efficient energy utilization with data.
"Over the past decade, China cumulatively phased out more than 100 million kilowatts of outdated coal-fired power capacity, reducing pollutant emissions from the power industry by over 90 percent. Electricity now makes up 28 percent of end-use energy nationwide. The energy consumption per unit of GDP declined by over 26 percent compared with 2012," said Zhang.
China has also developed complete wind and solar industry chains incorporating research, design and manufacturing and a world-leading hydroelectric industry chain, Zhang told reporters.
"New progress has also been made in energy sector's institutional reform. An energy structure with diverse market entities is gradually taking shape, a unified and open energy market system is becoming matured step by step, an energy pricing mechanism reflecting market supply and demand is coming into being, and the market is playing an increasingly effective role in boosting clean energy consumption, ensuring power supply, and enhancing optimized resource allocation," said the director.
China issues white paper on energy transition achievements
