China has built the world's largest and fastest-growing renewable energy system, leading the global renewable energy technology, according to a report on global energy transition released by China Enterprise Reform and Development Society (CERDS) on Saturday.
The report also notes that fossil fuel-related activities remain the largest source of global carbon emissions. Global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions rose 0.4 percent year on year in 2025 to 38.4 billion tonnes, the slowest growth since 2021. China's emissions fell 0.5 percent, while U.S. emissions rose 2.4 percent, making the United States the largest single driver of global emissions growth.
"Coal accounted for 49.7 percent of China's power generation in the first half of this year, falling below 50 percent for the first time ever. It indicates that coal power is shifting from a primary energy source to a source of security and systemic buffer," said Peng Huagang, president of the CERDS.
By the end of last year, the global installed renewable energy capacity had risen 15.5 percent year on year to 5,149 GW, with renewables accounting for 33.8 percent of total electricity generation -- surpassing coal-fired power's 33.0 percent share for the first time in a century.
China's total energy investment is projected to reach 940 billion U.S. dollars by 2026, the highest in the world. The country continues to take the lead in renewable energy technology, supplying 70 percent of the world's wind power equipment and 80 percent of its photovoltaic (PV) components, helping drive down global cost of wind and solar PV power generation by more than 60 percent and 80 percent, respectively.
China leads global renewable energy technology: report
