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China
China’s growing energy needs are increasingly met by renewables, natural gas and electricity. The scale of China’s future electricity demand and the challenge of decarbonising the power supply help explain why global investment in electricity overtook that of oil and gas for the first time in 2016, and why electricity security is moving firmly up the policy agenda. That said, cost reductions for renewables are not sufficient on their own to secure efficient decarbonisation or reliable supply.
Between 2019 and 2024, China will account for 40% of global renewable capacity expansion, driven by improved system integration, lower curtailment…- Overview
- Energy mix
- Emissions
- Electricity
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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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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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Integrating Distributed Energy Resources in China
…resilient power system, provided their integration is well-managed.This report analyses recent trends in DER deployment across China and highlights the emerging challenges their growth poses for power system planning and operation, calling for renewed attention to distribution grids. It puts China’s development of DERs in international perspective by drawing on experiences from jurisdictions that are further along in their DER integration journey, such as Australia, 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…
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World Energy Investment 2025 China
…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…
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China’s Official Energy Finance in Emerging and Developing Economies Trends in China’s Outbound Energy Finance
…EMDE. Between 2015 and 2024, Chinese official institutions committed around USD 565 billion cumulatively to energy projects in EMDE abroad: USD 335 billion to fossil fuels and USD 230 billion to clean energy technologies and infrastructure. Annual commitments peaked around the mid-2010s, exceeding over USD 115 billion a year before moderating through the late 2010s and falling to around USD 28 billion per year from 2022 to 2024.In relative terms, these flows accounted for about 7% of all energy investment in EMDE other than China between 2015 and 2024, and around 8% of clean energy spending during the same period…
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China’s Official Energy Finance in Emerging and Developing Economies Case studies
…structures and SOE balance-sheets shape outcomes on the ground.These case studies also demonstrate that China’s overseas energy engagement is not merely a response to market opportunities, but also an interaction with host countries’ conditions. These financing practices typically align with host governments’ national targets such as expanding renewable capacity, improving grid reliability, or strengthening industry value chains. Each financing practice is constrained by the local regulatory system but also driven by a supportive policy environment. These examples provide concrete insights into how China’s evolving approach is influencing real projects and the broader financing landscape in EMDE.
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Trucks and Buses
…sales and bringing the global stock to approximately 635 000 in total. Several European countries (such as Belgium, Norway and Switzerland) and China achieved sales shares above 50% in 2023, and more than one-fifth of bus sales were electric in Canada, Chile, Finland, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Sweden.
Sales of electric trucks increased 35% in 2023 compared to 2022, meaning that total sales of electric trucks surpassed electric buses for the first time, reaching around 54 000. China is the leading market for electric trucks, accounting for 70% of global sales in 2023, down from 85% in 2022…
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Heat Pumps
…China is responsible for nearly 33% of global heat consumption and it is currently the world's largest market for heat pumps for buildings. Electrification through heat pumps can provide a key lever for decarbonising heating, and sales have increased in recent years in China.
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…
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Integrating Distributed Energy Resources in China Executive summary
…these small assets can deliver significant benefits to China’s power system if efficiently integrated, including enhanced flexibility, strengthened electricity security and lower system costs. Driven by declining technology costs and supportive national programmes, DER deployment has accelerated across rural communities and commercial and industrial buildings. By 2024, distributed photovoltaics (DPV) accounted for 40% of the country’s total solar capacity, up from 30% four years earlier, while the stock of electric cars grew by more than 650% over the same period. This rapid deployment is reshaping China’s power system and placing increasing pressure on distribution networks to adapt…
