Cheng Zhiqiang: Vigorously Promoting the High-quality Development of China's New Energy Sector
General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: "China possesses the institutional advantages of the socialist market economy, the demand advantages of a supersize market, the supply advantages of a complete industrial system, and the talent advantages of a large number of high-quality laborers and entrepreneurs. Economic development possesses strong endogenous momentum, resilience, and potential." This profoundly reveals the vast space for our country's economic development and points out the key factors behind the leapfrog development achievements China has attained in the field of new energy. To continuously promote the high-quality development of China’s new energy at a higher level, we must give full play to this series of important advantages and thoroughly implement the new energy security strategy of "Four Revolutions and One Cooperation" [1] proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping, providing a secure and reliable energy guarantee for Chinese-path modernization.
China’s New Energy Development Has Achieved Remarkable Success
Since the New Era, China has unswervingly followed the path of high-quality development characterized by ecological priority and green, low-carbon growth, with energy transition reaching new heights. The field of new energy has continuously achieved leapfrog development, injecting new momentum into economic growth, contributing new strength to energy supply security, and providing new solutions for the global energy transition.
Historical breakthroughs have been achieved in the transition of the energy structure. As of the end of 2023, the installed capacity of wind and solar power has increased tenfold compared to a decade ago, ranking first in the world for many consecutive years and accounting for approximately 40% of the global total. Annual renewable energy generation reached around 3 trillion kWh, accounting for about one-third of total societal electricity consumption. Notably, wind and solar power generation exceeded the electricity consumption of urban and rural residents nationwide. In 2023, the share of clean energy consumption reached 26.4%, an increase of 10.9 percentage points from a decade ago, while the share of green electricity consumption reached approximately 36%.
The competitiveness of the new energy industry continues to strengthen. In 2023, the conversion efficiency of mass-produced advanced solar cells in China reached 25.5%. Megawatt-level wind power units have formed several mature technical routes that have reached advanced international levels. New energy vehicle (NEV) power batteries rank among the world's best in terms of energy density, lifespan, and safety. In 2023, NEV exports grew by 77.6% year-on-year, with the export volume ranking first globally. China's new energy products, with their high quality and cost-effectiveness, possess a clear competitive advantage in the international market and have won widespread praise and recognition from consumers in different countries and at various levels.
The contribution of new energy to the green and low-carbon transition is steadily increasing. After years of development, many of China's new energy technologies and equipment manufacturing levels have become global leaders. China has built the world's largest clean power supply system, bringing new hope to the global response to climate change. In 2023, the global new installed capacity of renewable energy was 510 million kW, with China contributing more than half. In 2022, China's renewable energy power generation and its exports of wind and solar products contributed to an aggregate reduction of over 2.8 billion tons of CO2 equivalent, accounting for approximately 41% of the global carbon emission reduction converted from renewable energy during the same period. A report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) pointed out that over the past decade, the average levelized cost of electricity for global wind and solar power projects has fallen by more than 60% and 80%, respectively, a large part of which is attributed to Chinese innovation, Chinese manufacturing, and Chinese engineering.
International cooperation in new energy is progressing steadily. To date, China has carried out green energy project cooperation with more than 100 countries and regions, and China's overseas investment in green and low-carbon energy has surpassed its investment in traditional energy. China continues to deepen cooperation in clean energy technological innovation with the EU, ASEAN, and the Arab League, with the fruits of cooperation benefiting the people of many countries. Mechanisms such as the "Belt and Road" Energy Partnership and the Global Clean Energy Partnership have been established. Overseas clean energy investments by Chinese enterprises cover major fields such as wind, solar, and hydropower, helping other countries achieve carbon reduction targets, creating new industries and jobs, and promoting common development and prosperity.
New Energy Development Fully Embodies the Significant Advantages of the Chinese Economy
The leapfrog development in China's new energy sector since the New Era serves as a vivid footnote and a living case study of the advantages of the Chinese economic system, demand, supply, and talent.
Systemic advantages are the fundamental guarantee. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The strong leadership of the Party and the institutional advantage of our country's socialist system in being able to mobilize resources to accomplish major undertakings [2] are the fundamental guarantees for achieving steady and sustainable economic progress and social stability." The key to developing the new energy industry lies in cultivating new quality productive forces, and the socialist market economy [3] is the economic system best able to stimulate the potential of the social productive forces. The transition of China's new energy industry from small to large and then to strong could not have happened without the powerful guarantee provided by the socialist system’s ability to mobilize resources for major undertakings. Since 2000, China's R&D investment has grown by an average of 14.2% annually, and progress in core technologies has driven the industry toward increasingly high-end, intelligent, and green development.
Demand advantages are the source of momentum. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "In the coming period, the characteristic of our domestic market dominating the economic cycle will become more prominent, and the potential for domestic demand to drive economic growth will be continuously released." As a massive economy with a population of over 1.4 billion and a GDP of over 130 trillion yuan, China is one of the world's most important consumer markets, and the people's demand for high-quality life is vast. The rapid development of China's new energy is inseparable from the nurturing of strong domestic demand. China’s massive consumer market and diverse driving environments provided the soil for the R&D and iterative upgrades of NEV technology. By effectively leveraging the advantages of a supersize market, China's new energy industry—after undergoing full competition in the domestic market—has significantly improved its technical-economic level and product cost-effectiveness, ultimately forming a significant competitive advantage in the international market.
Supply advantages are a powerful support. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "China is the large market with the most potential in the world and possesses the most complete industrial supporting conditions." China is the only country in the world to possess all the industrial categories listed in the UN industrial classification. Its manufacturing scale has ranked first globally for more than 10 consecutive years. In the new energy industry, China possesses a full industrial chain covering everything from material R&D and engineering design to manufacturing management and final assembly integration. Thanks to strong domestic supporting capabilities, China's new energy industry has continuously expanded its scale and gradually grown larger and stronger. By the end of 2024, the installed capacity of new energy power generation in China—primarily wind and solar—reached 1.45 billion kW, surpassing the installed capacity of coal-fired power for the first time.
Talent advantages are the primary resource. Talent is the primary resource for development. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Our country already possesses a massive, high-quality talent pool with a continuously optimizing structure and an increasingly prominent role." At present, China has built the world's largest education system, with a population that has received higher education reaching 250 million, and the average years of education for the newly added workforce exceeding 14 years. The primary driver of new energy development is innovation, and innovation-driven development is, in essence, talent-driven. A powerful talent dividend provides crucial support for the continuous and rapid development of China's new energy. In terms of personnel, according to statistics from IRENA and the International Labour Organization, China had 7.4 million renewable energy jobs in 2023, accounting for 46% of the global total and ranking first in the world. In terms of enterprises, as of July 2024, the number of enterprises related to the new energy industry in China exceeded 2 million, a year-on-year increase of 16.4%. In terms of industrial talent, according to big data analysis from relevant recruitment agencies, China became one of the world's top five new energy talent powers in 2023. This massive army of high-quality talent has become the backbone supporting the transition and upgrading of the national energy structure and the improvement of new energy manufacturing and service levels.
Relying on Advantages to Implement the "Four Revolutions and One Cooperation" New Energy Security Strategy
General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed the "Four Revolutions and One Cooperation" new energy security strategy—namely, promoting a revolution in energy consumption, a revolution in energy supply, a revolution in energy technology, and a revolution in the energy system, alongside strengthening international cooperation in all dimensions—which has pointed the way for China's energy transition and development in the New Era. We must further leverage the significant advantages of the Chinese economy and implement the "Four Revolutions and One Cooperation" strategy with greater intensity to accelerate the high-quality development of new energy.
Relying on supply advantages, strengthen the new energy industrial and supply chains. Standardize the development order of the new energy industrial and supply chains and resolutely crack down on behaviors that disrupt the market. Support leading new energy enterprises and industry associations in using their advantages to guide coordinated development between supply chains and between supply chains and the market. Encourage upstream and downstream enterprises in the power and solar supply chains to establish long-term and stable cooperative relationships through strategic alliances, long-term contracts, and mutual shareholding, promoting chain supplementation and strengthening (补链强链) [4] while bolstering supply chain security.
Making good use of demand advantages, improve the new energy market. Refine the market system and mechanisms to promote the development of the new energy industry and facilitate the sharing, mutual assistance, and optimized allocation of energy and power resources over a wider range. Accelerate the construction and improvement of a power market system where medium- and long-term markets, spot markets, and auxiliary service markets are organically linked. Improve the price formation mechanism for new energy and innovate price mechanisms that promote green development.
Strengthening systemic advantages, refine the systems and mechanisms for promoting high-quality development in new energy. Establish and improve fair, open, and transparent market rules, and further reduce restrictions on private capital market access in the new energy sector. Focus on areas such as flexible system adjustment capabilities, green energy consumption, integrated energy services, and the development of new models and business forms to achieve new breakthroughs in mechanism building. Promote the establishment and improvement of the green electricity certificate (GEC) system for renewable energy, continue to promote green certificate and green electricity trading, actively guide green electricity consumption, and improve the green electricity market operation system to encourage the entire society to adopt green and low-carbon production and lifestyles.
Tapping into talent advantages, lead innovation in key new energy technologies through talent pool construction. Encourage universities to add new energy-related majors and actively support the joint cultivation of multifaceted talent by universities and enterprises to increase the reserves of industrial talent. Establish special funds for talent introduction and high-end talent recruitment projects to focus on bringing in high-level innovative talent and teams, while increasing support. Promote breakthroughs in key core technological equipment, components, and materials to continuously improve the level of independent innovation in the industry. Accelerate the integrated development of information technology and the energy industry, promote the digital upgrading of the new energy industry, and strengthen the application of next-generation information technology, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, blockchain, the Internet of Things, and big data in the field of new energy.
Promoting the complementarity of advantages, strengthen international cooperation in new energy in all dimensions. Adhere to ensuring energy security under conditions of openness, continue to implement the Belt and Road Initiative, promote the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative [5], advance the construction of a global energy internet, and strengthen connectivity with neighboring countries in new energy infrastructure. Deepen green productive capacity cooperation with developing countries and actively promote cooperation in fields such as wind power, solar power, energy storage, and smart grids. Strengthen practical cooperation with relevant countries in advanced new energy technologies, actively participate in the formulation of international standards for new energy, and lead international cooperation in addressing climate change within the new energy field.
(The author is the Director of Cooperation at the Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization)
Source: People's Daily (February 19, 2025, Page 09)