China’s National Energy Administration on Tuesday issued the first annual report in the country's energy sector focusing on the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and energy development.
The report shows that the rapid development of AI is driving a sustained increase in global electricity demand for computing facilities. According to the International Energy Agency, the electricity consumption of data centers worldwide will nearly double by 2030 compared to 2025.
By 2025, China has built 42 intelligent computing clusters with tens of thousands of computing cards per day, and the total electricity consumption of computing centers nationwide reached 170 billion kilowatt-hours.
In terms of the large-scale industry models, dozens of large-scale models have been implemented in China's energy sector, covering fields such as power grid, new energy, hydro power, thermal power, nuclear power, coal, oil and gas.
"We are forming a virtuous cycle in which the energy industry creates application scenarios, and AI solves problems; the AI raises demand, and the energy industry optimizes supply accordingly. We are seizing the strategic opportunity of the booming development of AI and energy transformation to promote their deep and effective integration," said Wang Hongzhi, head of the National Energy Administration.
China issues report on integration of AI, energy development
The ongoing China-ASEAN Expo serves as a bridge for China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to boost trade flows, helping both sides reap shared development dividends.
Scheduled to run from Sept 17 to 21 in Nanning City of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the event draws more than 3,400 exhibitors from over 70 countries and regions.
This year, Timor-Leste is participating for the first time as a full ASEAN member and a co-host of the expo, with participants noting results have exceeded expectations, bolstered by China's vast market.
"I brought 60 packages of 250-gram coffee, which would be sold out in one day. Now I'm thinking that China market is open for everybody and it's very huge," said an exhibitor from Timor-Leste.
Participants also hailed the construction of China's Pinglu Canal, which officially opened to traffic on Wednesday.
The 134.2-km-long canal runs from Hengzhou, a county-level city in Guangxi, to the Beibu Gulf, the closest maritime outlet for much of southwest China.
The canal becomes a cost-competitive river-sea intermodal shortcut connecting ASEAN producers with the vast consumer market in southwest China, said the participants.
"In the past, shipments into the southwest China usually went by sea to Guangzhou and then overlands. Too many handover made it hard to keep products fresh. Losses were high and transit time was unreliable. Now that the canal is open, we can enter [the] Guangxi [Zhuang Autonomous Region] directly from the Beibu Gulf and move on to Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan restaurants, faster onto the supermarket shelves and tables in the southeast [part of China]," said an exhibitor from Vietnam.
With the formal signing of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (FTA) 3.0 Upgrade Protocol in Oct 2025, bilateral cooperation has expanded beyond economic and trade areas to emerging fields such as the digital economy and the green economy.
"I am looking for an investor to develop agriculture and integrated tourism with us in Malaysia," said an exhibitor from Malaysia.
Economic ties between China and ASEAN have continued to deepen. Bilateral trade topped 1 trillion U.S. dollars for the first time in 2025, totaling 1.05 trillion dollars, up 7.4 percent year on year. In the first seven months of 2026, trade between the two sides reached 744.41 billion dollars, an increase of 24.7 percent year on year and accounting for 21.8 percent of China's total foreign trade.
China has remained ASEAN's largest trading partner for 17 consecutive years, while ASEAN has been China's largest trading partner for six successive years.
China-ASEAN Expo boosts bilateral cooperation, delivers shared dividends
