China provides new drivers for global green development: white paper

BEIJING, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- China's green energy development has become an engine for global energy transition, a white paper said Thursday.

Since 2013, China has contributed over 40 percent of the annual increase in global renewable energy capacity, according to the white paper titled "China's Energy Transition" issued by the State Council Information Office. The country's newly installed renewable energy capacity accounted for more than half of the world's total last year.

The International Energy Agency recognized in a report that China is a front-runner in the global renewable energy sector and a major driving force behind the world's rapid expansion of renewable energy capacity.

From 2014 to 2023, the share of non-fossil fuels in global energy consumption rose from 13.6 percent to 18.5 percent, with China contributing 45.2 percent to this increase, said the white paper.

According to a report from the International Renewable Energy Agency, global wind power projects have seen the average power generation cost per kilowatt-hour decrease more than 60 percent over the past decade, and photovoltaic power projects have seen a cost decrease by more than 80 percent. The reductions are largely attributable to China's green energy shift.

China's further opening up has created new opportunities for deeper international cooperation on clean energy, said the white paper. Restrictions on foreign investment have been removed in all energy industries except nuclear power plants.

Multinationals such as GE, BP and Siemens are steadily expanding their investment in China's energy sector. Many foreign projects are well underway across the country, including EDF's offshore wind power project, Tesla's electric vehicle project in Shanghai, and LG Energy Solution's battery project in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province.