China Energy Transition Review 2025

The China Energy Transition Review 2025 by Ember analyzes China's rapid shift toward clean energy and electrification, detailing how its domestic policies and manufacturing scale are driving down global costs and pushing global fossil fuel demand toward a structural decline.

• China's clean energy generation is increasingly displacing fossil fuels. In 2024, wind and solar electricity generation grew by 25% year-on-year, and by the 12 months ending June 2025, combined wind and solar generation (2,073 TWh) exceeded all other clean sources combined (1,936 TWh). In the first half of 2025, clean generation growth outstripped demand growth, leading to a 2% decrease in fossil fuel generation compared to H1 2024.
• China is investing heavily in clean energy infrastructure, spending $625 billion USD in 2024, which represents 31% of global clean energy investment. Grid investment reached a record 608 billion RMB ($85bn USD) in 2024, and battery storage capacity grew rapidly, with H1 2025 capacity reaching 95 GW, a 69% year-on-year increase.
• Whole-economy electrification is rising in China, with electricity's share of final energy consumption reaching 32% in 2023. Electricity became the primary energy source for industry in 2023, overtaking coal (31% of final energy demand), and it remains the largest source for buildings (39% of final energy demand).
• China's energy transition is driven by a strategic shift toward an 'ecological civilisation,' moving away from a fossil-fuel-based growth model. This 'build before break' approach prioritizes the establishment of clean systems before phasing out fossil capacity, repurposing coal plants for grid flexibility and backup.
• The clean energy sector has become a major economic driver for China, contributing 13.6 trillion RMB ($1.9 trillion USD) to the national economy in 2024. This sector is growing three times faster than the overall Chinese economy, with Chinese companies now lodging approximately 75% of global clean energy patent applications.
• China's massive manufacturing scale is drastically reducing global costs for clean technologies. In 2024, 91% of newly commissioned wind and solar facilities globally were cheaper than the cheapest fossil fuel alternative. Chinese battery pack prices fell to approximately $60/kWh by July 2025, contributing to electric vehicles (EVs) becoming price-competitive with internal combustion engine vehicles.
• China's exports are enabling emerging markets to 'leapfrog' developed economies in clean energy adoption. In 2023, 63% of emerging markets had a higher solar generation share than the US, and 25% had higher economy-wide electrification. Chinese solar exports reached 242 GW in 2024, with half going to emerging markets.
• China's domestic transition and global technology exports are creating conditions for a structural decline in global fossil fuel demand. China's own energy-related fossil fuel consumption fell by 1.7% between 2015 and 2023, and the report suggests global fossil fuel demand could be in structural decline by 2030.

APA

Yang, M., Yang, B., Butler-Sloss, S., & Graham, E. (2025). China Energy Transition Review 2025. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/09/China-Energy-Transition-Review-2025.pdf

Chicago

Yang, Muyi, Biqing Yang, Sam Butler-Sloss, and Euan Graham. China Energy Transition Review 2025. Ember, 2025. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/09/China-Energy-Transition-Review-2025.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Yang |first1=Muyi |last2=Yang |first2=Biqing |last3=Butler-Sloss |first3=Sam |last4=Graham |first4=Euan |title=China Energy Transition Review 2025 |publisher=Ember |date=9 September 2025 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/09/China-Energy-Transition-Review-2025.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yang2025china, author = {Yang, Muyi and Yang, Biqing and Butler-Sloss, Sam and Graham, Euan}, title = {{China Energy Transition Review 2025}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2025}, month = sep, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/09/China-Energy-Transition-Review-2025.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }