China has built the world's largest renewable energy system, with the efforts having intensified particularly during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) period.
Since China pledged in 2021 that it would peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060, it has made rapid strides in installing renewable energy capacity.
China now produces more than 10 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity each year, which accounts for one-third of the world's total.
In terms of electricity consumption, one out of every three kilowatt-hours of electricity consumed in China is generated by wind farms, solar panels and hydro power stations, representing the world's largest and most far-reaching green miracle.
The country now has six large hydropower stations along the Yangtze River's main streams, forming the world's largest clean energy corridor.
The vast desert and barren land in China's western regions have been transformed into huge solar farms, housing seven of the nine major clean energy bases outlined in the 14th Five-Year Plan.
If all the new solar panels installed nationwide over the five-year period were laid out flat, the total area could cover 530,000 football fields. If all the new wind turbine blades were connected end-to-end, the combined length would stretch from China's easternmost point to its westernmost point and back again.
The construction of the ultra-high voltage "energy arteries" outlined in the 14th Five-Year Plan has also been accelerated. Over the five years, 19 ultra-high voltage projects have commenced construction, weaving a super network for power transmission. Green electricity from the western region now fulfills one-fifth of the electricity demand in the central and eastern regions.
The 14th Five-Year Plan also for the first time outlined plans for new energy storage facilities. Leveraging technologies such as gravity energy storage and compressed air energy storage, the facilities played a major role in meeting peak electricity demand this summer.
China has established the world's largest and most comprehensive new energy industrial chain, achieving the target of non-fossil energy accounting for 20 percent of total energy consumption as scheduled.
China builds world's largest renewable energy system with rapid progress made during 14th Five-Year Plan period
China builds world's largest renewable energy system
The Navy of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said that the Strait of Hormuz has been blocked since Saturday evening and will not reopen until the United States lifts its naval blockade on the waterway.
In a statement carried by its official news outlet Sepah News, the IGRC said that the move came after the United States violated its commitments under the two-week ceasefire, which took effect on April 8, and failed to end its naval blockade against Iranian vessels and ports.
The IRGC Navy called on all vessels and their owners to follow official updates via its channel and VHF Channel 16, the international maritime distress, safety, and calling frequency. The statements by U.S. President Donald Trump hold no credibility in the strait and the Gulf, it added.
The IRGC warned that no vessel should move from its anchorage in the Gulf or the Gulf of Oman, and any approach to the strait would be deemed "cooperation with the enemy" and targeted accordingly.
Tehran's political leadership echoed the IRGC's firm position. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf asserted that the Strait of Hormuz is under Iran's control, revealing that during previous negotiations, Iran had firmly countered U.S. attempts to carry out minesweeping operations, which Tehran viewed as a ceasefire violation.
He said the situation had come close to conflict, but the U.S. had eventually backed off.
Calling the U.S. maritime blockade "reckless and ignorant," Ghalibaf warned that passage through the strait would certainly be restricted if Washington does not lift the blockade.
Underpinning these public announcements, Iran's Supreme National Security Council on Saturday affirmed the country's resolve to exercise control and supervision over traffic through the Strait of Hormuz until the war is definitively ended and lasting peace is achieved in the region.
For its part, the United States pressed ahead with its own military measures.
The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement on Saturday that the U.S. military is imposing a maritime blockade on ships entering and exiting Iranian ports and nearby coastal areas. Since the blockade began on April 13, 23 ships have complied with U.S. directions to turn around.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military is preparing in the coming days to board Iran-linked oil tankers and seize commercial ships in international waters, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing U.S. officials.
The move will enable the U.S. to take control of Iran-linked vessels around the world, including ships carrying Iranian oil that are already sailing outside the Persian Gulf and those carrying arms that could support Tehran, the report said.
Iran's IRGC says Strait of Hormuz blocked, demands end to US naval blockade
