Sessions focus on sustainable development

China's successful mass deployment of clean energy can play a pivotal role in the global green transition by serving as a reference model and providing cost-effective products accessible to all, said Belinda Schaepe, a China policy analyst at the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.

Green development and ecological conservation are the focus of lawmakers and advisers who gather in Beijing for the annual sessions of the National People's Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Schaepe noted that the clean energy industry is now a key factor not only in China's climate efforts but also in its broader economic and industrial policies.

A February analysis by experts at the CREA published on Carbon Brief, a United Kingdom-based climate website, said clean energy sectors drove a quarter of China's GDP growth last year, with sales and investments worth 13.6 trillion yuan ($1.9 trillion).

China's investment in clean energy was close to the total global amount put into fossil fuels last year, and it was similar to the overall size of Saudi Arabia's economy, the analysis also highlighted.

"This demonstrates that large-scale clean energy deployment can drive economic growth rather than hinder it, challenging outdated narratives that decarbonization is a drag on GDP," Schaepe said. "As China's green development accelerates, this creates opportunities for all to share the growing pie in returns from the production and deployment of clean energy."

China has made clean products affordable for all countries, as the domestic scale-up of manufacturing has driven down costs dramatically, Schaepe said. Together with international partners, China can also collaborate to promote green financing, especially for emerging economies.

"Many emerging countries need large-scale clean energy infrastructure and want to develop the underlying industries but face financing constraints," she said. "China, along with multilateral institutions and Western partners, could work together to enhance green financing mechanisms and technology transfer to build up production capacity for clean technologies and enable a faster uptake in renewables with those countries."

At COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, China announced that it has voluntarily provided 177 billion yuan in project funding since 2016 to support developing countries in tackling climate change.

The rhetoric of "overcapacity", which accuses China's clean energy sector of benefiting from so-called unfair subsidies, has been circulating for a while, stemming the flow of the competitively priced low-carbon products.

While there is government support, "China's clean energy leadership is the result of a combination of factors that are often overlooked", Schaepe said.

Over the past two decades, long-term policy guidance at both the national and provincial levels has driven the emergence of a pool of globally strong companies, she said, noting that China's strategic investment in research and development and its domestic supply chain resilience are accountable.

Meanwhile, the vast home market and fierce competition among Chinese companies have further accelerated efficiency gains and cost reductions, she said. "Success requires a holistic approach that includes infrastructure development, supply chain coordination, large-scale deployment policies, and competition-driven innovation," she said.

As 2025 emerges as a crucial juncture for China, the nation is setting the stage for the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) and revising its Nationally Determined Contributions, essential climate action strategies within the 2015 Paris Agreement. Schaepe expressed optimism for sustained progress in clean energy development, supported by a more ambitious target for domestic deployment rates.

"If China continues its current clean energy deployment trends, it could achieve the emissions reductions needed to align with the Paris Agreement's targets by 2035. At the current rate, renewable energy capacity could reach around 5,000 gigawatts by then, cutting power sector emissions by a third," she said. "The challenge ahead is ensuring this growth is sustainable," she added.

An ambitious emission reduction target, including a clear, strong trajectory on phasing down coal consumption, is also essential, Schaepe said.

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