The main goals aim to achieve “remarkable results” in green development by 2030 and to fundamentally establish a green, low-carbon and circular economic system by 2035, Xinhua said.
Environmental and climate issues are becoming increasingly politicized and green trade barriers are escalating
“Environmental and climate issues are becoming increasingly politicized and trade barriers in the green sector are increasing,” the official warned.
By 2023, China produced more than 80 percent of the world’s solar panels, as well as 75 percent and 60 percent of the world’s lithium batteries and electric vehicles, respectively.
This dominance has sparked suspicion and tariff measures in the United States and the European Union. Both sides have accused China of strangling their own manufacturing sector through overcapacity in its renewable energy industries.
Compared to the old goals for China’s green transformation, the new guidelines particularly emphasize the “leading role of industry and consumers,” according to a statement from Huatai Securities.
The document proposed for the first time that the scale of the energy saving and environmental protection industry will reach about 15 trillion yuan (US$2.09 trillion) by 2030.
In addition, a target has been set for the annual recycling of bulky waste, which is expected to reach around 4.5 billion tonnes by 2030.
At the same time, detailed plans to promote green consumption were presented. These include expanding the scope and scale of green products in government procurement and encouraging green consumption among consumers through measures such as issuing consumption vouchers.
The guidelines also reaffirmed existing targets, such as increasing the share of non-fossil fuel consumption to 25 percent by 2030 and gradually reducing coal consumption over the next five years.
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The surprising obstacle slowing China’s transition to green energy
The surprising obstacle slowing China’s transition to green energy
China’s heavy reliance on coal power remains one of the biggest challenges to the country’s green transformation, the NDRC official said.
Despite aggressive efforts in recent years to build wind and solar parks, the substitution rate of new energies in the overall electricity supply is low. The unpredictability of these sources leads to consumption bottlenecks.
Thermal energy remains the backbone of China’s power grid, with thermal energy accounting for 69.9 percent in 2023, down just 1.3 percentage points from 2020, according to a Fitch Ratings report earlier this year.
And it was said that the shares of wind and solar energy were 9.1 percent and 3.3 percent respectively last year, 3.5 and 1.4 percentage points more than in 2020.
