In the ten years since the signing of the Paris Agreement and five years since the announcement of the dual carbon goals, China has seen a precipitous rise in clean energy investment, particularly in renewables. In 2024 China’s clean energy investment was more than USD 625 billion, almost doubling since 2015. China also achieved its 2030 wind and solar capacity target in 2024, six years ahead of schedule. While renewable installations are set to continue, investment growth is expected to slow in 2025 and, in the case of solar PV, even to fall back slightly.

China’s evolving macroeconomic priorities have long shaped its approach to energy investment. While China met its 5% GDP growth target in 2024, the economy faced mounting pressures from weak domestic consumption, deflationary risks and a deepening real estate crisis. Against this backdrop, energy security and reliability have become even more critical. After years of expanding energy supply, focus has shifted to ensuring this capacity is used effectively and stable enough to meet new and evolving demand while sustaining industrial competitiveness.

These priorities have materialised in two major investment trends. First is the significant push for grid, storage, and smart infrastructure, as seen from USD 88 billion in transmission and distribution investment in 2025. Heatwaves and industrial demand spikes have exposed weaknesses in China’s grid, while rapid renewable deployment has outpaced grid expansion, leading to higher curtailment rates and ineffective transmission to areas of high energy demand in the east. Second is the continued expansion of coal, with investment expected to exceed USD 54 billion in 2025. While coal generation could serve as a supplementary backup to renewables, the scale of investment points to a deeper reliance on thermal power, driven by persistent concerns over electricity security.

Chinese energy investment has traditionally been dominated by state-owned enterprises and characterised by large-scale infrastructure projects backed by government financing. However, the landscape is beginning to shift.  In recent years the government has increasingly encouraged greater private sector participation in energy development. As part of its evolving strategy, China has explicitly encouraged the involvement of private enterprises in the energy sector beyond the fields of export-oriented clean energy manufacturing into areas of more strategic domestic importance, such as nuclear power, new energy storage and even into upstream oil and gas and mining. The Chinese government has facilitated private participation in more than 8 000 recommended projects in 2024.