China leading globally in installed hydropower capacity

CHENGDU -- China's reservoirs and dams rank first globally in both number and installed capacity, according to the 28th Congress of the International Commission on Large Dams held in Chengdu city, the capital of Southwest China's Sichuan province.

Congress attendees noted that China has developed a comprehensive, systematized approach to mitigating climate risks through water infrastructure, which is a replicable model for the world.

According to data from the National Energy Administration, China had constructed more than 94,000 dams by December 2024 — the largest number globally — and the country's total installed hydropower capacity had reached 436 million kilowatts, including 377 million kilowatts of conventional hydropower.

Annual hydropower generation comes in at 1.42 trillion kilowatt-hours, accounting for 57 percent of China's total renewable energy output, official figures show.

China's total reservoir storage capacity is approaching 1 trillion cubic meters, including a flood control capacity of over 185.6 billion cubic meters. Reservoirs supply 270 billion cubic meters of water annually and support the cultivation of 532 million mu (about 35.5 million hectares) of farmland.