Explainer: How does China's green development contribute to global climate action?

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(Xinhua) 10:05, March 04, 2025

An aerial drone photo taken on July 19, 2024 shows a wind farm in Tongliao, China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Lian Zhen)

"If a country has effective and low-cost green technologies, is committed to a global ecological civilization, practices free trade, and is willing to share its green technologies, then it can play a key role in shaping a postmodern, ecological global civilization," said Philip Clayton, president of the U.S. Institute for Ecological Civilization. "China can play and is playing this crucial role."

BEIJING, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Recent years have witnessed record-breaking heatwaves worldwide, making it clear that global warming is not merely a distant warning but a harsh reality.

Meanwhile, China, with its steadfast commitment and remarkable progress in green development, has emerged as a champion in the global transition to renewable energy, serving as a beacon of hope in the fight against climate change.

What has China achieved so far? What does it mean to the world? Here is what to know.

This photo shows a ceremony marking the 10 million milestone that China's annual production of new energy vehicles (NEVs) has surpassed for the first time, in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Nov. 14, 2024. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

A GREENER CHINA

China has been making concrete steps toward its commitment to peak carbon emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.

China's carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP decreased by 50.9 percent in 2021 compared to 2005, the base year for the country's climate contributions, according to recent reports submitted by China to the secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The country has been growing literally greener. China's forest coverage rate reached 25 percent by 2023, with forest stock exceeding 20 billion cubic meters. The annual carbon-sink capacity of China's forests and grassland has exceeded 1.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalents, ranking first in the world.

Meanwhile, renewable energy expansion in China continues to set new records, with over 200 million kilowatts of newly installed capacity for renewable energy power generation in the first three quarters of 2024, accounting for more than 80 percent of total new installed capacity. In 2023, China accounted for 60 percent of the new renewable capacity added worldwide, according to World Energy Outlook 2024.

Electricity generated from clean energy accounted for 39.7 percent of the country's total power generation in 2023, up by around 15 percentage points from 2013, according to a white paper titled China's Energy Transition issued in 2024.

China is also a top player in reducing energy intensity, with 26 percent down since 2012. Its production and sales of new energy vehicles have topped the world for 10 consecutive years.

China's achievements in green development reflect its strong commitment to balancing economic development with environmental sustainability, said Naing Swe Oo, a senior advisory board member of Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International Studies.

"Through the ambitious carbon neutrality goals, energy structure adjustments and industrial decarbonization efforts, China has made significant progress in the transition to a more sustainable economy," he said.

Maksat Abilgaziev (R) and his colleague check power transformer equipment at Zhanatas wind farm in Zhanatas, Kazakhstan, on April 3, 2023. (Photo by Kalizhan Ospanov/Xinhua)

THE GREEN GROWTH

Bearing fruitful achievements domestically, China has been assisting other countries in achieving green growth and strengthening their adaptation capacity for climate change.

For years, China has aided the construction of clean energy and environmental protection projects in developing countries.

For instance, under the China-Ethiopia-Sri Lanka Renewable Energy Technology Transfer Project, 11 green energy solutions have been installed covering 12 small and medium-sized demonstration sites and benefiting more than 50,000 people across five provinces in Sri Lanka and four regions in Ethiopia. They are expected to generate at least 70,000 kWh of energy -- saving approximately 157,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions every year.

Moreover, clean energy stations with Chinese investments have taken off in both Kazakhstan and Mali. The Zhanatas Wind Farm in Kazakhstan generates 350 million kWh of clean electricity annually, equivalent to saving 109,500 tons of standard coal and cutting carbon emissions by 289,000 tons every year.