Study found electric vehicles and batteries added largest amount to country’s clean-energy economy. Clean energy contributed a record 10% of China’s gross domestic product in 2024, an analysis has found. With sales and investments worth 13.6tn yuan (£1.5tn; $1.9tn), the sector has now overtaken real estate sales in value. Solar power, electric vehicles (EVs) and batteries have all played a major role in the dramatic growth of Chinese clean technology.
Carbon Brief, which conducted the analysis based on official figures, industry data and analyst reports, said it had used a broad definition of “clean-energy” sectors, including renewables, nuclear power, electricity grids, energy storage, EVs and railways. EVs and vehicle batteries were the largest contributors to China’s clean-energy economy last year, making up an estimated 39% of the overall value.
Simon Evans of Carbon Brief, said: “China has been investing heavily in these sectors for a while now. Perhaps the scale and the pace of things has taken people by surprise, but China’s been developing its electric vehicle industry for a long time now. “It’s a deliberate, strategic move for various reasons, including the fact that China is a major oil importer and so they want to improve their energy security and their balance of payments by not having to import oil to run their cars.”.
Whether the clean-energy sector continues to boom will depend on the new targets and policies in China’s next five-year plan for economic and social development, which comes into force in 2026. Evans said that, despite world events, China is likely to continue its growth in clean energy: “After the US election result lots of people were wondering what the implications of that would be for the global climate process. China already at Cop29 [last year’s UN climate conference] made it very clear that it was planning to continue doing what it’s doing.
