China’s transformation into a renewable energy juggernaut over the last decade is nothing short of astonishing.
Over the past decade, the People’s Republic has not only slashed its air pollution but also vaulted to the forefront of global clean energy production.
This shift is driven by a potent mix of top-down policy, massive state investment, and pragmatic self-interest—recognising that dirty air kills citizens and threatens economic stability.
As Barbara Finamore argues in her 2018 book Will China Save the Planet?, China, the world’s largest carbon emitter, is paradoxically leading the charge against climate change.
In the book, Finamore highlights how Beijing’s “ecological civilization” agenda under Xi Jinping has turned environmental protection into a national priority, blending anti-pollution crackdowns with renewable megaprojects.
Fast-forward to 2025, China has installed over 373 GW of renewables in 2024 alone, surpassing its 2030 wind-and-solar goals six years early.
Yet, China’s renewable story is far from finished.
According to data from the International Energy Agency (IEA), China’s coal demand and production capacity remain high.
China currently uses a quarter of the world’s coal consumption, burning it to generate electricity, IEA said.
The government is pushing for emissions reductions and improved air quality by switching to gas in industrial and residential sectors, but China’s coal fleet is young, highly efficient, and still ten times larger than its gas-fired fleet.
With the US backing out of green energy goals, China’s growth over the next few years could be crucial for the world’s resistance against climate change.
This deep dive explores how China has been successful in clearing its air, becoming a massive player in the solar and electric vehicle (EV) market, and its challenges with coal.
The air quality miracle and its drivers
China has made significant strides in combating air pollution since the “airpocalypse” of the 2010s, when Beijing’s fine particulate (PM2.5) levels often exceeded 500 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m³)—20 times the WHO guideline.
By 2023, the national average had fallen below 30 μg/m³ for the first time, down from 33 μg/m³ in 2020, according to statista.com.
This decline continued into 2024, reaching about 28 μg/m³, which represents a staggering 57% drop from 2013 peaks, epic.uchicago.edu data showed.
This environmental improvement translates to public health benefits, with a 2022 study estimating that meeting 2025 air quality targets could increase the average life expectancy nationwide by 42.5 days.
The War on Pollution campaign, launched in 2013, was the blueprint for China. The campaign mandated coal plants near cities to shut down, stricter laws for emissions, and industrial relocations.
The implementation of the 2020’s Three-Year Action Plan significantly bolstered enforcement, leading to unannounced inspections of factories and the imposition of substantial fines on violators.
A key element of this effort was the major shift toward renewables, with wind and solar power replacing coal-fired generation.
This transition reduced SO₂ and NOx emissions, which are precursors to PM2.5 formation.
According to Ember’s China Energy Transition Review, clean energy sources accounted for 84% of the growth in electricity demand in 2024.
Battery storage tripled from 2021-2024, stabilising grids and curbing fossil backups.
Meanwhile, China has demonstrated significant progress in air quality improvement between 2020 and 2025, driven largely by policy measures.
The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, a major smog area, saw PM2.5 concentrations drop by 20%, surpassing the 10% national goal.
Even more dramatic reductions, a 54% decrease, were achieved in lower-income regions like the Southwest through focused efforts such as biomass controls and rural electrification.
While favorable weather conditions contributed to the pollutant dispersal, analysis from the University of Chicago suggests that policies were responsible for 70-80% of the gains.
Experts like Lauri Myllyvirta of CREA credit China’s “command-and-control” governance style, which allows for rapid and uniform enforcement, as key to this success—a contrast to more fragmented Western approaches.
Furthermore, public outcry over smog became a “social stability” concern, pressuring Beijing to act, as noted by Finamore.
Despite these achievements, challenges remain. Ozone levels increased by 4% in Q1 2025, and some western provinces, including Xinjiang, experienced PM2.5 spikes due to shifts in industrial activity.
Looking ahead, the 14th Five-Year Plan for 2025 targets a further 10% reduction, with a specific focus on protecting vulnerable elderly populations.
Solar innovations
According to global energy think-tank Bruegel, China is crucial to the world’s green transition as it is the largest greenhouse gas emitter, and also the biggest producer of green technology.
The Asian giant is a massive player in the renewable energy market, manufacturing 92% of the world’s solar modules and 82% of wind turbines as of 2024.
“The fact that 90 percent of global emissions come from energy consumption underscores the importance of China’s dominant market share,” Bruegel said.
China has set ambitious targets for non-fossil fuel energy consumption, aiming for 20% by 2025, 25% by 2030, and a significant 80% by 2060.
The majority of this increase is anticipated to be met by solar and wind power. Notably, the share in 2024 was already 19.8%, placing the country very close to achieving its 2025 goal.
According to Igor Isaev, doctor of technical sciences and head of the analytics center at Mind Money, the next solar innovation in China would be the creation of solar panels that generate electricity without any sunlight.
It sounds fantastic, but the technology has already proved itself, using thermoelectric technology that captures heat radiation from Earth back to space.
“If their installation is successful, they can produce 50 watts per square meter in complete darkness,” Isaev told Invezz.
Meanwhile, Britt Burt, vice president of power industry research at the US-based IIR Energy, believes that there is more potential for additional development for solar-thermal projects in China.
Burt said that historically, solar-thermal projects had been shelved in favour of photovoltaic solar plants as they are less expensive.
“However, if China stays true to its pledge of scaling down coal-fired power production, it will be necessary to consider using solar thermal technologies,” Burt exclusively told Invezz.
While solar thermal technology is more expensive, one of the key advantages is the ability to store heat in order to produce steam to drive a steam turbine/generator, thus having the ability to produce electricity during nighttime hours.
Chinese manufacturers are spearheading the shift toward high-efficiency cell designs like TOPCon and heterojunction.
These configurations enable consumers to generate significantly more electricity from the same rooftop area or land acreage. This efficiency is especially valuable in densely populated regions where space is limited.
“At the same time, we are witnessing significant improvement in factory quality control and stronger warranty terms from major producers, which enables each successive generation of solar panels to be viewed as a more reliable long-term asset on rooftops, regardless of whether the project was installed in the United States, Europe, Asia, etc,” said Ethan Heine, president and chief executive officer of Suntrek Solar.
EV market
China’s electric vehicle dominance is equally electric.
In 2024, it produced 10 million NEVs (new energy vehicles), 30% of global autos, with sales hitting 9.5 million–60% worldwide total, according to automotivemanufacturingsolutions.com.
Domestic sales are driving the NEV market, with a record 1.715 million units sold in October 2025, according to cnevpost.com.
The first half of 2025 saw passenger sales hit 10.9 million, marking a 10.7% year-over-year increase, with NEVs achieving 45% market penetration.
This rapid growth is supported by policies such as phased-out purchase subsidies in 2025 and the expansion of urban charging infrastructure, which now includes 2 million stations.
Affordable models, like BYD’s Seagull ($10K), are entering the market, but the primary sales volume is currently focused domestically.
Exports have seen an explosion, with 1.25 million electric vehicles (EVs) shipped in 2024, accounting for 40% of global trade, according to IEA.
This growth is accelerating, as evidenced by a 99.9% surge in exports in a single month of 2025. Hybrids and EVs collectively made up half of all exports in the third quarter of 2025, reaching over 200 countries.
Capacity outstrips demand—15 million vs. 10 million domestic—pushing overproduction abroad.
IEA’s Vaibhav Biswal observes:
China’s EV ecosystem—batteries to recycling—creates jobs and cuts oil imports, aligning with energy security.
Tariff impact
As of November 2025, Trump’s second term has gutted US climate action with $13 billion in green funds axed, Paris Accord exit redux, and renewables stalled by deregulation.
China has stepped in to fill the gap, investing a significant $818 billion in energy transitions—twice the amount of the next leading economy.
Furthermore, China’s technological advancements have been remarkable, with its solar share surpassing that of 25% of emerging markets, according to weforum.org.
However, US tariffs complicate the situation for China’s renewable energy push.
“From my perspective, tariffs on Chinese Electric Vehicles (EVs) and solar equipment don’t impede clean energy advancement; they merely alter how it happens and when it will happen,” Suntrek Solar’s Heine said.
Increased import costs typically result in more expensive or delayed utility-scale projects due to the significant impact even minor cost-per-watt increases have on budgets, he noted.
In the end, these same trade barriers lead manufacturers to establish production capacity in alternative locations and cause companies such as Suntrek Solar to diversify their supply chain rather than slow the adoption of solar energy.
Consequently, the shift to cleaner energy is proceeding, though it is taking a less direct route and is slightly more costly.
Meanwhile, IIR Energy’s Burt said that the US tariffs were already having an effect on the export market for solar panels produced in China. This was also leading to higher prices for solar panels and disruption in supply chains.
“This is leading China to diversify its export strategies for solar panel export and seek new geographic regions for the panels. These new markets include Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa,” Burt said.
This, of course, has the potential to speed up the development of solar power in these regions due to a glut of inexpensive panels.
Tariffs are prompting China to shift a significant portion of its manufacturing base.
While China previously moved solar panel production to countries like Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam, these regions are now also facing tariffs.
Consequently, Chinese companies are actively seeking new countries for solar panel manufacturing.
Coal conundrum
Coal remains the backbone of China’s power sector, supplying 55% of the nation’s electricity and accounting for 60% of global coal consumption, according to pv-magazine.com.
In 2024, it generated 60% of China’s power, a figure that persists despite renewables holding a 42% share of capacity, largely because grids are structured to favor stable baseload fossil fuel generation.
However, this reliance appears to be diminishing. Coal generation stabilised in Q2 2025 and saw a 2% year-over-year decline in the first half, as growth in renewable power generation surpassed overall electricity demand growth.
This shift is reflected in the permitting of new coal plants, which fell to a four-year low with 41.8 GW permitted in the first nine months of 2025, according to a Reuters report.
Plans are ambitious. The 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) vows “strict control” on coal, with phase-down in the 15th (2026-2030).
Overseas coal financing, banned since 2021, slashed pipelines to 31.4 GW by mid-2025. Experts project peaking by 2028, per CREA’s 2025 survey.
The reduction in coal usage is a natural progression, as all countries decrease their reliance on it to achieve the energy transition, according to Mind Money’s Isaev.
“However, declining coal mining and usage too fast could cause power shortages by 2030. That’s why even with today’s renewable policies, coal plants are still expected to grow to about 1,300–1,600 GW because electricity demand keeps rising.
To meet the 1.5°C target, the vast majority of coal-fired power generation must be eliminated, resulting in coal’s share of electricity falling to a mere 7–9%, Isaev added.
If too many coal plants are built, they may run so little that they drag down renewable energy growth.
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