-
Country report
May 2024
Enhancing China’s ETS for Carbon Neutrality: Introducing Auctioning
…2021, and is an important policy instrument for achieving its stated climate ambition of peaking CO2 emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060. This report, Enhancing China’s ETS for Carbon Neutrality: Introducing Auctioning – Lessons from international experience, responds to the Chinese government’s invitation to the IEA to co-operate on carbon emissions trading systems. It shows how introducing auctioning could strengthen its national ETS and help China accelerate the clean energy transition and advance towards its climate ambitions. Drawing on international experiences on implementing allowance auctioning in ETS systems, this report explores policy aims and outcomes…
-
Country report
Oct 2017
Prospects for Distributed Energy Systems in China
Industrial restructuring and diversification of energy demand are accelerating in the People’s Republic of China. In addition, driven by resource and environmental constraints, as well as pressure to reduce carbon emissions, China’s primary energy consumption structure is expected to shift in coming decades. This transition is an opportunity for the increased adoption of distributed energy systems. Against this background, it is timely to take stock of what distributed energy means in the 21st century, where its application in China stands today and what its future prospects are.This report aims to provide a step in this direction; it…
-
Country report
May 2022
Enhancing China’s ETS for Carbon Neutrality: Focus on Power Sector
…sector’s decarbonisation requires a well-coordinated policy mix. This report, Enhancing China's ETS for Carbon Neutrality: Focus on Power Sector, responds to the Chinese government’s invitation to the IEA to co-operate on carbon emissions trading systems (ETS) and synergies across energy and climate policies. It shows that an enhanced ETS could lead the electricity sector toward an emissions trajectory that is in line with China’s carbon neutrality target. This report also explores the interactions and effects of China’s national ETS with its renewable energy policy in the electricity sector, namely renewable portfolio standards (RPS)…
-
Report
Apr 2021
The Role of China’s ETS in Power Sector Decarbonisation
The People’s Republic of China (“China”) officially launched its national emissions trading system (ETS) in 2017, and it will come into operation in 2021. Initially covering the power sector, which accounts for over 40% of China’s energy-related CO2 emissions, the ETS is set to subsequently be expanded to other energy-intensive sectors. China’s national ETS could be an important market-based instrument to help the country meet its recently enhanced climate goals to have CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.
This report explores how China’s ETS can spur emissions reductions… -
Country report
Apr 2023
Building a Unified National Power Market System in China
Pathways for spot power markets Power markets are an instrument used globally to ensure electricity security while maintaining affordability and incentivising decarbonisation. The People’s Republic of China (hereafter, “China”) has been making big steps towards implementing markets, and the goals announced in 2020 of carbon dioxide emissions peaking before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060 have added momentum to expand their footprint. Provinces have taken a leading role in designing and implementing markets. To improve sharing of resources, the guidance to implement a unified national market system pushes for more co-ordination between provinces.The main audience of this…
-
Technology report
Oct 2011
Technology Roadmap - China Wind Energy Development Roadmap 2050
Roadmap Technology Roadmap - China Wind Energy Development Roadmap 2050 Developed by the Energy Resource Institute of China’s National Reform and Development Commission (ERI-NDRC), the China Wind Energy Roadmap is the first national roadmap that has been developed by a country with IEA support, drawing from its global roadmap series. The report shows how the People's Republic of China, already the world’s largest wind market, could reach 1 000 gigawatts of wind power by the middle of the century, an achievement that would reduce CO2 emissions by 1.5 gigatonnes per year, or roughly equivalent to the…
-
Country report
Aug 2015
Partner Country Series - Energy Use in the Chinese Building Sector
…buildings. China has experienced unprecedented economic growth and buildings construction since 2000. There is a unique opportunity to drive investments with technological and policy initiatives leading the way towards a more sustainable buildings sector that can offset expected energy consumption growth. While China’s energy consumption per capita is still low by global standards, the total impact of energy use and emissions in the buildings sector – on the Chinese economy, on local air quality and health, and on the overall well-being of China’s population – is nevertheless significant, and there are increased pressures to pursue a more sustainable pathway…
-
Country report
Sep 2025
Integrating Distributed Energy Resources in China
…Europe, Japan and the United States. Through cross-country comparison, the analysis identifies lessons and best practices that are relevant to China’s evolving power sector and regulatory landscape. It offers insights into the role of policy, regulation, market design, digital infrastructure and institutional frameworks in unlocking the full potential of DERs.The report provides tailored policy guidance to support Chinese decision makers in designing effective strategies for DER integration through 2030 and beyond. At the same time, it can serve as a valuable reference for Chinese and international experts working to develop coherent, forward-looking approaches to DER integration.
-
Technology report
Jun 2019
The Future of Cooling in China
Delivering on action plans for sustainable air conditioning The People’s Republic of China had the fastest growth in space cooling energy consumption worldwide in the last two decades, driven by increasing income and growing demand for thermal comfort. This report explores the principal trends and challenges related to this rapid growth, looking into existing market developments, policies, technology choices and occupant behaviour in buildings in China. It then looks at how cooling demand in buildings might evolve over the next decade to 2030 and considers what China can do to ensure greater cooling comfort without parallel growth in energy…
-
Technology report
Feb 2019
China Power System Transformation
…Sustainable Development Scenarios. The modelling identifies the establishment of spot markets and trade between provinces as two of the main elements to improve system operation efficiency in China. In order to integrate very high shares of variable renewables consistent with the WEO SDS, activating the demand side – especially electric vehicles – and targeted use of electricity storage are found to be crucial for an accelerated transformation of the Chinese power system. Highlights The rise of low-cost wind and solar power, deployment of distributed energy resources (DER) and increasing digitalisation are accelerating change in power systems around the world, including the…