China has emerged as a global leader in new energy technology and equipment, with its new energy patents accounting for more than 40 percent of the world’s total, an official said Tuesday.
Wang Hongzhi, head of the National Energy Administration, told a press conference that the country kept breaking world records in key areas during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), including photovoltaic conversion efficiency and the single-unit capacity of offshore wind turbines. The scale of the country’s new-type energy storage has also surged to the top position worldwide.
He noted that these five years have seen stronger energy supply and greater resilience. In the first four years, China’s energy consumption increase was already 1.5 times that of the entire 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), and the five-year increase in electricity consumption is expected to exceed the EU’s annual electricity use.
China has accelerated the development of its energy production, supply, storage and sales system, effectively meeting rapidly growing demand. In 2024, the country’s power generation exceeded 10 trillion kilowatt-hours, accounting for one-third of the global total. Its total energy production was equivalent to about 5 billion tonnes of standard coal, more than one-fifth of the global share, ensuring sufficient and stable energy supply, Wang told the press conference.
He added that during this period, China streamlined the supply of electricity, oil and gas to boost people’s livelihoods, focusing on removing bottlenecks and continuously improving energy access for residents. During the 14th Five-Year Plan, China built the world’s largest electric vehicle charging network, with two charging piles for every five vehicles, making charging more convenient. The country also responded swiftly to extreme natural disasters, restoring energy supply as quickly as possible to safeguard the “lifeline” of energy use for livelihoods.
Wang further pointed out that the 14th Five-Year Plan marked the fastest green and low-carbon transition. China established the world’s largest and fastest-growing renewable energy system, with the share of renewable power generation capacity rising from 40 percent to about 60 percent.
Wind and solar installations grew rapidly, surpassing 100 million, 200 million and 300 million kilowatts in annual additions, achieving leapfrog development at unprecedented speed and scale. Energy consumption has steadily “gone green,” with one out of every three kilowatt-hours of electricity consumed nationwide coming from renewable sources.
He noted that the share of non-fossil energy in total consumption has increased by one percentage point annually, and is expected to exceed the 20-percent target set for the 14th Five-Year Plan. Meanwhile, the share of coal has fallen by one percentage point annually. This “one increase, one decrease” has significantly boosted the “green content” of economic growth. China’s exported wind and solar products during this period helped other countries reduce carbon emissions by about 4.1 billion tonnes, making a major contribution to global low-carbon transition.
“Next, we will fully advance the development of a new energy system under the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), accelerate the building of an energy powerhouse, and provide strong energy support for advancing Chinese modernization,” Wang said.
