Global energy transition: China serves as both a stabilizer and a driving force.

Against the backdrop of today’s global interplay between climate change, energy security, and technological innovation, countries around the world are reevaluating their approaches to energy security, reshaping the global energy landscape, and accelerating the transition toward a greener, low-carbon future. A new growth path characterized by low-carbon development has become a key direction for global economic progress. According to forecasts from the International Energy Agency, investments in the global energy transition are set to reach unprecedented levels, with as much as $2.2 trillion expected to flow into renewable energy, nuclear power, grid infrastructure, and electrification initiatives by 2025. As a result, the world is on the cusp of entering a brand-new era of electrification.

What role has China played in this? Lu Junling, Chief Economist at the National Energy Administration, stated that this year marks the final year of China’s “14th Five-Year Plan.” Over the past five years, China has actively embraced the concept of green development, ensuring robust energy security and achieving remarkable progress in its energy transition. As a result, China has become the world’s largest clean-energy market, while also playing a vital role in safeguarding the stability of global energy industry and supply chains.

Through a set of data, we can clearly see China's strong capabilities in its energy transition: In 2024, China's investment in clean energy reached US$625 billion, accounting for one-third of the global total. Moreover, the country has maintained its position as the world leader for 10 consecutive years in new-energy vehicle production and sales, as well as in installed capacity for photovoltaic and wind power. China has already built the world's largest and most comprehensive new-energy industry chain. At the same time, as a key contributor to the global green transformation, China is actively promoting the joint construction of a clean-energy industry ecosystem under the Belt and Road Initiative. To date, it has collaborated with more than 100 countries and regions on green energy projects, supplying over 80% of the world's photovoltaic modules and 70% of wind-power equipment—solidifying its role as a stabilizing force in the global clean-energy production and supply chain.

During this process, Chinese clean energy companies have openly integrated into the global industrial chain, contributing to the joint building of a green Belt and Road Initiative and helping to achieve global sustainable development goals.

In Indonesia, the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Rail project, in which China is actively involved, is expected to reduce carbon emissions by approximately 330,000 tons. In Ethiopia, the Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway project—constructed by a Chinese enterprise—has innovatively incorporated renewable energy facilities across the board, an intelligent sensor-based street lighting system, and rainwater recycling infrastructure during its construction phase. Additionally, the project has meticulously designed wildlife ecological corridors, creating a replicable model for green development. Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia, the RRPDO4-AHK Photovoltaic Project stands as a key collaborative achievement between the Belt and Road Initiative and Saudi Arabia’s ambitious “Vision 2030.” Upon completion, the project will generate 3.1 billion kilowatt-hours of clean electricity annually, reliably powering 750,000 households in Medina. Moreover, it will help reduce CO₂ emissions by 3.1 million tons and sulfur dioxide emissions by 93,000 tons each year, significantly supporting Saudi Arabia’s efforts to build a low-carbon, environmentally friendly economy.

There are countless such green initiatives. China firmly promotes win-win cooperation by continuously deepening partnerships on renewable energy projects with regions including the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. These collaborations provide a robust resource foundation for helping host countries transition to cleaner, greener energy systems and achieve low-carbon development, earning high recognition and widespread praise from the international community while injecting powerful momentum into global sustainable development.

“Deepening international cooperation on clean energy is an inevitable trend,” said Li Wei, Chairman of Shandong Energy Group Co., Ltd. Looking at the global development landscape, in 2024, clean electricity accounted for as much as 40.9% of the world’s total power generation, marking the beginning of a new phase in the global energy transition. As more countries and regions set increasingly ambitious carbon reduction targets and roll out comprehensive energy transformation plans, the clean energy industry is poised to unlock vast market opportunities. However, challenges remain, including the need for greater policy stability across nations, breakthroughs in energy storage technologies, intensifying market competition, and addressing the growing issue of power grid integration and consumption.

Lu Junling believes that China must intensify its efforts to accelerate the development of cutting-edge clean energy technologies, fostering technological cooperation and exchanges in areas such as green hydrogen, advanced energy storage, next-generation nuclear energy, and carbon capture, utilization, and storage. At the same time, China should actively explore opportunities for international collaboration on clean energy projects and vigorously promote economic and trade partnerships in the clean energy sector. Moreover, it is crucial to speed up the deep integration of modern information technology with the energy industry, enhancing the efficiency of coordinated operations across the entire energy value chain—from upstream production to downstream consumption. This will drive the digital and intelligent transformation and continuous upgrading of the clean energy industry. Additionally, China should fully leverage multilateral and bilateral energy cooperation mechanisms, strengthening mutual interaction and coordination to jointly chart a global path toward green and sustainable energy development, while working together to ensure the stability and smooth functioning of the global energy production and supply chains.

Wan Tao, Deputy General Manager of China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation Limited, stated that in recent years, Sinopec has signed cooperation agreements with QatarEnergy, France's TotalEnergies, and other global partners to jointly build a thriving clean energy chain. Looking ahead, Sinopec will continue to deepen its trade collaborations with natural gas-producing countries and oil-and-gas companies, working together to foster the healthy development of the global natural gas market. At the same time, the company will further leverage platforms such as EPEC, PetroChina E-Trade, and EasyGo, creating more specialized platforms for showcasing, promoting, providing service support, and facilitating trade connections for global clean energy products—thereby driving the scaled-up, high-quality growth of clean energy trade.

Source: International Business Daily