China advances clean energy transition

China has firmly solidified its position as the world's largest manufacturer of clean energy equipment, supplying approximately 70 percent of the global market for wind power equipment and 80 percent for solar photovoltaic modules, according to a newly released industry report.

The Report on China Energy Development 2026, published recently by the China Electric Power Planning and Engineering Institute, underscored how the country has continuously fortified its energy security while making steady, historic progress in its green and low-carbon transition over the past few years.

Driven by a more abundant and diversified domestic energy supply, China saw a landmark achievement in 2025, with the nation's combined installed capacity for wind and solar power exceeding that of coal-fired thermal power for the first time in history.

Furthermore, relying on its robust clean energy industrial advantages, China has deepened international energy cooperation, substantially lowering the economic threshold for the global energy transition, the report said.

In 2025, China's energy supply capacity improved significantly, playing a crucial role in enhancing the resilience of national energy security, according to the National Energy Administration.

China remains the world's largest energy producer, accounting for over one-fifth of global energy production and roughly one-third of global power generation, the administration said.

In 2025, the country's total primary energy production reached 5.13 billion metric tons of standard coal, representing a 3.6 percent year-on-year increase. As of the end of 2025, the nation's cumulative installed power generation capacity surged by 16.1 percent year-on-year to reach 3.89 billion kilowatts, the report said.

Despite the rapid expansion of renewables, traditional energy sources have continued to play a stabilizing role. Coal production capacity remained reasonably abundant, with output reaching 4.85 billion tons last year, a 1.4 percent increase from the previous year.

The oil and gas sector also saw steady output increases, with crude oil production reaching 216 million tons and natural gas output hitting 262.06 billion cubic meters — marking the ninth consecutive year that natural gas production has grown by more than 10 billion cu m.

Su Xinyi, vice-president of the EPPEI's clean energy research institute, said China has further consolidated a diversified energy guarantee system in recent years.

By steadily advancing the construction of major overseas oil and gas cooperation zones across Central Asia, Russia, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas and the Asia-Pacific, China has expanded its crude oil import sources to around 40 countries.

At the same time, the domestic energy structure has experienced profound optimization. In 2025, the share of coal in China's total energy consumption dropped to 51.4 percent, down 1.8 percentage points from the previous year. Conversely, the consumption share of clean energy — encompassing natural gas, hydropower, nuclear, wind and solar — climbed 1.8 percentage points to 30.4 percent.

Renewable energy now forms the undisputed backbone of China's power grid. Accounting for over 60 percent of the nation's total installed power capacity, renewables have become the dominant force.

The combined installed capacity of wind and solar power reached a staggering 1.84 billion kW, officially surpassing thermal power to secure the top spot globally. Newly added electricity generation from wind, solar and biomass sources accounted for more than 90 percent of the total new electricity consumption across the country last year.

The China Electricity Council recently said that despite broader macroeconomic adjustments, China's overall electricity demand continues to rise robustly, driven heavily by advanced manufacturing, emerging high-tech sectors and widespread electrification.

This structural shift in electricity consumption mirrors the nation's broader industrial upgrading, the CEC said.

With China rapidly building a new power system dominated by renewable energy, this green power generation trend is expected to drastically reduce the power sector's overall carbon emissions, said Liu Zhiqiang, deputy director of the CEC's planning and development department.

China's massive domestic market has strengthened its solar supply chain and created economies of scale that accelerate technological innovation. As a result, the country has cemented its position as the global leader in solar manufacturing, engineering and technical standards, Liu said, adding that energy efficiency and technological innovation have also kept pace with this structural shift.