Beijing supports high economic growth with low energy increase

Beijing has managed to support high economic growth with a very low increase in energy consumption, as the city forges ahead with a low-carbon transition, said Chen Tian, head of Beijing Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau. 

He made the remarks at an event held on the sidelines of the ongoing 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP28, on Thursday.

It is the first side event held by the Chinese regional government in the China pavilion, where about 100 events will be held during the two-week-long UN annual gathering.

"Beijing has managed to fuel an average annual economic growth of over 6 percent, with an average annual energy consumption growth of less than 1 percent," he said. 

Chen said in the past more than two decades, Beijing has seen its coal consumption decrease from over 30 million metric tons at the peak to less than 1 million tons last year. 

Currently, 98.5 percent of energy consumption in the capital is contributed by natural gas and electricity, he continued.

Chen also noted progress in the low-carbon transition in the capital's transportation sector.

There are over 6 million oil-fired vehicles in Beijing, a city with more than 21 million permanent residents, he said. 

While promoting the development of public transportation, he said, the Beijing government has made great efforts to phase out the outdated oil-fired vehicles.

Currently, the subway lines in Beijing stretch for 1,172 kilometers. To date, the city has phased out more than 2.3 million outdated oil-fired vehicles. The number of new energy vehicles in Beijing has totaled 720,000.