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A case study by the World Resources Institute (WRI) detailing a project in Shanxi, China, that transitioned displaced coal workers into the tourism sector, creating over 1,000 jobs and integrating 'just transition' principles into provincial government planning.

China is strategically transitioning its coal power fleet from a baseload generation role to providing system flexibility to support the rapid expansion of wind and solar energy. The country is on track to fully retrofit its existing coal fleet for flexibility by 2027, though the report emphasizes that clean flexibility solutions, particularly battery energy storage, must scale up to avoid locking in emissions beyond 2030.

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.

This report by Global Energy Monitor and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) examines the structural inertia preventing a transition away from coal in China's power system. Despite a record decline in coal's share of power generation and the rapid expansion of renewables, coal capacity continues to grow due to high commissioning rates, strong project approvals, and institutional protections such as capacity payments and inflexible dispatch rules. The report highlights a significant gap between official retirement targets and actual progress, urging the development of a national roadmap for coal phase-down in the upcoming 15th Five-Year Plan.

China is rapidly expanding its renewable energy capacity, with a 1.3 TW pipeline of utility-scale solar and wind projects and an operating capacity of 1.4 TW that surpassed thermal power in Q1 2025. While China leads globally in offshore wind capacity and technology, including floating platforms and high-capacity turbines, the sector faces challenges from the 2021 phaseout of national subsidies and competition from ongoing fossil fuel development in coastal provinces.

As of May 2025, China's installed solar and wind capacity reached 1.4 billion kilowatts, surpassing thermal power for the first time in Q1 2025. The country has over 1.3 billion kilowatts of additional projects planned or under construction, with significant concentrations in Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia. While offshore wind has grown rapidly to 42.7 million kilowatts (49% of global capacity), it faces challenges following the 2021 removal of national subsidies, prompting a shift toward provincial policies and technical innovation in deep-sea and floating wind platforms.

This July 2025 briefing by Global Energy Monitor details China's leadership in utility-scale solar and wind energy, highlighting a 1.3 TW pipeline of prospective capacity and the rapid growth of its offshore wind sector, which now accounts for 50% of global capacity.

This report by Global Energy Monitor (GEM) analyzes the potential for repurposing abandoned and soon-to-be-closed surface coal mines into solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants. It argues that these sites are ideal for solar development due to their existing proximity to grid infrastructure and the need for land reclamation, offering a pathway to align clean energy goals with local job creation and environmental restoration.

The report 'Boom and Bust Coal 2025' tracks global coal-fired power plant developments in 2024, highlighting a stark contrast between the decline of coal in the EU and UK and a surge in new construction in China and India.

This report by Global Energy Monitor and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) examines the conflicting dynamics of China's energy transition in 2024, where record-breaking clean energy expansion is occurring simultaneously with a significant increase in coal power construction and approvals.

This report by Global Energy Monitor examines China's coal mining sector, highlighting a record-breaking production of 4,700 million tonnes in 2023 and a massive pipeline of proposed new capacity. It details the environmental impact, specifically the sector's role as a primary source of global coal mine methane emissions, and analyzes the tension between China's energy security needs and its 'dual-carbon' climate goals.

The report "Boom and Bust 2024," published by Global Energy Monitor and several partner organizations, tracks the global development of coal-fired power plants. It highlights a contradictory trend where, despite global efforts to phase out coal, total operational capacity reached a historic high in 2023, driven largely by significant expansions in China.

A briefing by Global Energy Monitor and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) reports that China is at risk of missing multiple 2025 climate commitments due to an acceleration in coal power permitting and construction. Despite official pledges to strictly control new coal power, an estimated 114 GW of capacity was approved and 70 GW started construction in 2023. The report argues that this expansion is driven by rigid grid management and a perceived 'policy window' before 2025, leading to significant risks of future overcapacity and stranded assets.

This briefing by Global Energy Monitor and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) analyzes a surge in coal power permitting and construction in China during the first half of 2023. The report finds that new projects are being approved at a pace of more than one plant per week, often ignoring central government policies that restrict new coal to a 'supporting' role for clean energy. The authors argue that this 'coal rush' is driven by a desire to maximize carbon-intensive capacity before the 2030 emissions peak, outdated grid management, and a shift away from fossil gas, potentially undermining China's long-term climate commitments.

This June 2023 report by Global Energy Monitor analyzes China's rapid expansion of utility-scale solar and wind power. It details current operational capacities, projected growth through the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), and the strategic role of large-scale energy bases in the northwest. The document also examines the policy drivers, supply chain advantages, and emerging trends such as 'source-grid-load-storage integration' and green hydrogen production used to manage the intermittency of renewable energy.

A February 2023 briefing by Global Energy Monitor reporting a dramatic acceleration in coal power plant permitting and construction in China during 2022, driven by peak load increases and regional energy security concerns, despite record clean energy additions.

This report by Global Energy Monitor (GEM) provides a mine-level assessment of global coal mine methane emissions, finding that operating mines emit 52.3 million tonnes of methane per year. This volume rivals emissions from the oil and gas sectors and is significantly higher than many national inventories report. The analysis identifies China, specifically Shanxi province, as the primary source of these emissions and warns that proposed new mine projects could add another 11.3 million tonnes annually, potentially locking in emissions equivalent to the coal-based CO2 emissions of the United States.

This report by Global Energy Monitor and Oxpeckers analyzes global coal mine proposals, finding that 2,277 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of new capacity is under development. This expansion is led by China, Australia, India, and Russia, and is largely inconsistent with the 1.5°C warming limit of the Paris climate agreement.

This report by the Climate Policy Initiative examines the landscape of green and climate finance in China, highlighting the gap between current investment levels and the funding required to meet climate targets. It analyzes the dominance of the public sector, regional investment patterns, and the barriers preventing private capital from scaling, while offering recommendations for policy improvements and the greening of outbound investments.

This fact sheet details a Chinese Asset-Backed Security (ABS) green bond issued by State Power Shanxi New Energy Development Co., Ltd. on December 31, 2019, to fund solar and wind energy projects.