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From coal-powered plants belching smoke to vast expanses of solar panels glinting in the sun, China’s transition to green development is progressing rapidly, marked by notable progress, driven by President Xi Jinping’s commitment to building a more sustainable future. It is on this Thursday, 5 June 2025, in Beijing.
In 2024, 86 percent of newly installed power capacity in China came from renewable energy sources, while the share of cumulative installed renewable capacity reached a record high of 56 percent of the national total, according to official data.
The figures reflect years of arduous efforts of the world’s largest developing country to pivot from fossil fuels toward cleaner energy sources, spearheaded by Xi’s steady and strategic commitment to a low-carbon development path.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, said in 2020 that China will strive to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. The pledge represents the steepest cut in carbon emission intensity in the shortest period that the world has ever seen.
“Carbon peaking and carbon neutrality are not something asked of us, but something we are doing on our initiative,” Xi once said, adding that the goals cannot be achieved easily, but efforts must be made immediately.
Calling for advancing green and sustainable development rather than GDP-oriented growth, Xi has urged regions burdened by outdated industrial models to accelerate green transitions while balancing the need for energy security.
Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in northern China offers a vivid illustration. Rich in coal and central to the nation’s energy supply, the region had been leaning on high-polluting industries and resource-intensive growth.
In 2018, during a joint deliberation with fellow lawmakers from Inner Mongolia, Xi urged the region to develop the modern energy sector effectively by following the latest industrial trends.
Over recent years, the region has quickened its pace of transformation. Once known for coal and desert, it is now dotted with vast arrays of solar panels and wind turbines. By the end of 2024, the region’s installed new energy capacity, which includes wind power and solar energy, had overtaken thermal power for the first time, reaching the landmark a full year ahead of schedule.
The region’s green transition mirrors broader national efforts. To achieve its carbon reduction goals, the government has introduced sweeping measures, including the expansion of market mechanisms to drive change.
In July 2021, China officially launched its national carbon emissions trading market, a critical step in reducing carbon footprints and meeting emissions targets. The platform has since evolved into the world’s largest carbon market by the amount of greenhouse gas emissions traded. Notably, the carbon-emissions intensity in the generation of electricity has since decreased by 8.78 percent.
While striving to tackle climate change, China’s green push has also emerged as a powerful engine of economic growth. “Green, circular, and low-carbon development represents the trend of the current technological revolution, and the direction in which industry is shifting,” Xi said at a meeting in 2015. He also noted that with unparalleled prospects and potential, the development will create a number of growth drivers.
Since Xi announced carbon peaking and carbon neutrality targets nearly five years ago, China has built the world’s largest and fastest-growing renewable energy system as well as the largest and most complete new energy industrial chain.
The country’s production and sales of new energy vehicles have secured the top position in the world for 10 consecutive years. It also emerged as a global technology leader in sectors such as solar panels, lithium batteries, and carbon capture, among others.
Xi has also underscored the key role a sound ecological environment plays in supporting China’s long-term development, and has long been concerned about land restoration and afforestation.
For 13 consecutive years, Xi has maintained a tree-planting tradition, joining officials and citizens to promote the country’s afforestation drive. From 2012 to 2024, China’s afforestation area was equivalent to over twice the size of Germany.
With nearly one-fifth of the world’s population, China’s green transformation carries global significance. The country has been working to help power the world’s green transition by sharing its expertise in green technologies and aiding clean energy projects in developing countries.
Between 2016 and 2023, China provided a total of 24.5 billion U.S. dollars in climate-related funding to other developing countries. In 2023 alone, China’s exports of wind and solar products helped other countries reduce carbon emissions by 810 million tonnes.
“However, the world may change, China will not slow down its climate actions, will not reduce its support for international cooperation, and will not cease its efforts to build a community with a shared future for mankind,” said Xi at the Leaders Meeting on Climate and the Just Transition in April.
