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District Energy Systems in China
The People's Republic of China’s district heat network is the world’s largest. In 2015, it consumed more energy than the entire United Kingdom. While progress is being made, the total impact of energy use and emissions from district heating and even district cooling – on the Chinese economy, on local air quality and health, and on the overall well-being of China’s population – is nevertheless significant. China has great opportunities of lowering the environmental footprint of its district energy system. While the country has pursued assertive public policy decisions in recent years, it is essential to elevate…
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World Energy Outlook 2017: China
China is changing and its energy future promises to be quite different from its energy past.For years, the dominant energy narrative on China concentrated on the extraordinary pace of its development, the country’s success in lifting hundreds of millions of its citizens out of poverty (including energy poverty), the scale of its industrialisation and its demand for energy resources, most notably for coal.While elements of this narrative remain true, the country is quickly changing course in the direction of a much more services-based economy and a much cleaner energy mix. This new direction will have consequences…
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Prospects for Distributed Energy Systems in China
…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 presents a vision for what distributed energy systems may look like: integrated solutions that intelligently combine clean-generation options with energy efficiency and solutions that focus on customer’s needs for energy services. The report highlights numerous examples from China and around the world, illustrating promising solutions that are already emerging in practice.
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Partner Country Series - China's Engagement in Global Energy Governance
…Republic of China is in the centre of the global energy landscape – and at a turning point towards a low-carbon future. There is an increasingly clear congruence of China’s domestic interests and the world’s collective interests in terms of energy security, economic development and sustainable growth. In global energy governance, the country is gradually transforming from outsider to insider and from follower to influencer, with instrumental implications for the country and the world. This report provides a historical perspective on China’s approach to global energy governance and highlights how greater positive and constructive Chinese engagement can…
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China's Power Sector Reforms: Where to next?
China's Power Sector Reforms: Where to next? In 2005, China added the equivalent of all the power plants in Norway and Sweden to its electricity generating capacity - and its remarkable demand growth shows no sign of abating. But how can the government best assure affordable and environmentally sustainable electricity supply in the future? Assessing the current state of electricity regulation in China, this report draws on experience elsewhere to explore how better to develop and communicate strategy, how to moderate growth in demand through increased efficiency, how to integrate environmental goals into planning and operation, how to ensure sufficient…
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Energy Efficiency in China’s Buildings Sector
…two decades, China has made significant strides in energy efficiency, with strong reductions in primary energy intensity across the economy and increased energy services. Much of China’s improvement has come from energy efficiency upgrades in industry and overall economic structural shifts. The buildings sector accounts for approximately 20% of its total final energy consumption and its intensity has decreased at a slower rate. There remains significant potential to unlock further energy savings through technical and policy initiatives in buildings.This report outlines opportunities for actions, targets and timelines that could improve energy efficiency in China's buildings sector. It…
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China’s Official Energy Finance in Emerging and Developing Economies
…Global energy investment exceeded USD 3.3 trillion in 2025, but capital flows remain uneven. Emerging market and developing economies (EMDE) outside China attracted just 27% of total energy investment and 18% of clean energy spending, despite accounting for nearly two-thirds of the global population and the bulk of future demand. Addressing this imbalance requires mobilising more capital from diverse sources into EMDE energy systems.China continues to play a central role in global energy investment flows because of its large domestic investments and its large external capital spending on energy. Since 2015, its official-sector institutions have committed on average…
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The Future of Heat Pumps in China
…20%. Electrification through heat pumps can provide a key lever for decarbonising heating, and sales have increased in recent years in China, driven by growing demand for space and water heating, and clean heating policies. This report, prepared in collaboration with Tsinghua University, provides an overview of the status of heat pumps in buildings, industry and district heating in China, and examines potential to further accelerate deployment. Heat pumps can play an important role towards meeting China’s goal of CO2 emissions peaking before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060, and this report highlights key opportunities to increase adoption…
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Opportunities for Hydrogen Production with CCUS in China
…could contribute to China’s energy system decarbonisation strategy, such as through the use as a fuel and feedstock in industrial processes; in fuel cell electric transport, and for the production of synthetic hydrocarbon fuels for shipping and aviation. The analysis of scenarios in this report suggests that while hydrogen from renewable power electrolysis could meet the majority of hydrogen demand by 2060, equipping existing hydrogen production facilities with CCUS could be a complementary strategy to reduce emissions and scale-up low-emission hydrogen supply. This report was produced in collaboration with the Administrative Centre for China’s Agenda 21…
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An energy sector roadmap to carbon neutrality in China
An energy sector roadmap to carbon neutrality in China In September 2020, President Xi Jinping announced that the People’s Republic of China will “aim to have CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060”. Amid the growing wave of governments around the world setting targets for reaching net zero emissions, no pledge is as significant as China’s. The country is the world’s largest energy consumer and carbon emitter, accounting for one-third of global CO2 emissions. The pace of China’s emissions reductions will be an important factor in global efforts to limit global…
