Powering the push toward a clean, healthy growth

Coal is going to make way for new energy in China through various reforms in the 13th Five Year Plan (2016-20) as the country battles air pollution, said experts.

"China has to build a strong and efficient alternative energy industry in order to cope with the environmental challenges," said Zhao Yong, associate researcher of the Energy Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission. "Using less energy to drive more output is the key solution to China's healthy growth."

In June 2015, the Chinese government submitted a document to the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, specifying that China is committed to reducing the carbon dioxide emission per GDP by 60 to 65 percent by 2030 compared with the level in 2005. The consumption of non-fossil energy will count for 20 percent of the primary energy consumption.