Clean Energy Fuels Economic Transformation and Development

THE clean energy industry has become an important engine for global economic growth. In the context of the global economic recession and oil price fluctuations brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry is playing a more significant role in boosting global economic transformation in a green and low-carbon manner.

-  WANG ZHE

In recent years, China has actively promoted the development of clean energy such as wind and solar power, and formulated plans for such development. The country has seen substantial improvement of the environment as it made great efforts in adjusting the energy mix, transforming the model for economic growth, tackling pollution, restoring the ecology, and promoting a green lifestyle among the general public.

Currently, installed wind and solar power capacities in China account for more than one-third of the world’s total. In the future, transformation to clean energy in China is expected to speed up thanks to its strong policy support, huge market potential, powerful manufacturing capability as well as integrated and efficient supply chain. Such transformation will also give a strong boost to China’s high-quality economic and social development.

Significant Increase

According to the annual report on China’s ecological and environmental conditions released by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment on June 2, air quality in the country continued to improve, with 337 cities at the prefecture level and above recording good air quality on an average of 82 percent of the days in 2019. The quality of surface water was also getting better, according to the report, noting 74.9 percent of surface water monitored by the ministry was graded Class I to III (meaning the water was up to standard) in 2019, up 3.9 percentage points from the previous year.

While promoting economic development, China has been expanding the use of renewable energy to alleviate pressure on the environment. The idea of combining economic development with ecological protection has become the consensus of the whole society.