A view of a wind farm in Bijie, Southwest China's Guizhou Province, on March 27, 2025. Photo: VCG

According to the latest data from the National Energy Administration, China's installed capacity of wind and photovoltaic power reached 1.482 billion kilowatts by the end of March, exceeding that of thermal power for the first time in history. This makes people think back to the end of 2023 when China's installed capacity of non-fossil energy power generation exceeded that of thermal power for the first time and the end of 2024 when the capacity of China's total installed renewable power, including wind, solar and biomass power, surpassed coal-fired power installations. Today, wind and photovoltaic power installations have reached a new level and become a new milestone in China's green and low-carbon transition. People can see from this the certainty that China has when it aims for something and makes steady steps determinedly, as well as the country's sense of responsibility and commitment as a great power with the future of mankind and the well-being of its people in mind.

The Agence France-Presse (AFP) said the historic surpassing of thermal power installations by wind and photovoltaic power installations suggests China's power sector is undergoing "structural change and the sector's carbon emissions are one small step away from peaking." Behind this is the fact that China's energy transition has been leading at an accelerated pace in a dozen years. AFP noted that China met a 2030 target to install 1,200 GW of solar and wind capacity almost six years early and last year added a record 357 gigawatts of wind and solar, 10 times the US's additions. At the ongoing Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition, some European media outlet said the battery life of electric vehicles is no longer a concern for the people, with attention now turning to when automatic driving will become a reality. The outside focus on China's green development has already shifted from "if it can be achieved" to "when it can be realized."

China's green development is also an open system that synergizes with the global innovation chain and dovetails with the needs of various countries, and China's "green dream" has always carried the vision of people around the world in pursuit of a better life. In recent years, China has rolled out in Africa over 100 programs in clean energy and green development, such as the Garissa Solar Power Plant in Kenya and the De Aar wind power project in South Africa. 

"It's the Chinese friends who have brought light and hope to our land," said locals. In a number of small island countries, Chinese-aided solar power systems have given remote mountain villages access to electric lights for the first time. 

China not only participates in multilateral mechanisms such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the G20, but also promotes green investments under the Belt and Road Initiative and so on, providing the international community with "Chinese solutions." According to the Lowy Institute of Australia, partnering with China is key to accessing world-leading tech, scale, and supply chain efficiency and Australia should seize this opportunity.

From being "overly reliant on coal" to "leading with wind and solar," and from passively following to proactively breaking new ground, China has injected green momentum into the global civilization process through systemic innovation and strategic focus. While some countries are trapped in a zero-sum game between environmental protection and economic growth, or see their transitions stalled by interest groups, China develops new quality productive forces based on the philosophy that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets." By promoting an "inclusive transformation," China has demonstrated that ecological civilization construction is not an elitist environmental movement, but a modernization achievement shared by all human beings. This has also shown that the responsibility of a major power is not about empty slogans, but about pragmatically solving real problems; and that development opportunities are not dependent on geopolitical games, but on an open and inclusive ecosystem of cooperation.

Currently, global climate governance faces multiple challenges: developed countries have repeatedly fallen short on their emission reduction commitments, and developing countries are constrained by technological and financial bottlenecks in their energy transitions. A certain major power indulges in unilateralism and protectionism and frequently withdraws from international agreements, hindering global climate efforts. Against this backdrop, China has demonstrated remarkable action, continuously and steadily delivering "good news" to the world. The country also countered all kinds of uncertainties with the determination, actions and achievements of green and low-carbon development. On April 23, UN Secretary-General António Guterres highly praised China's latest climate pledges, calling them "extremely significant" for climate action.

China has repeatedly emphasized that responding to climate change is not something others want us to do, but something we must do. This is an inherent requirement for China's sustainable development and a responsibility and commitment to promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. If we were to discuss what insights China's energy transition offers to the world, the consistency and stability of policies, as well as the determination to "stay tenacious like a bamboo deeply rooted in the rocks," are decisive factors for the "explosive growth" of China's new energy achievements. It is precisely because China "concentrates on running its own affairs well" that the country has achieved success in areas such as industrial chains, installed capacity, and related investment. This is also where the confidence and assurance in "coping with shifting events by sticking to a fundamental principle" come from.

President Xi Jinping delivered a speech via video link at the Leaders Meeting on Climate and the Just Transition on Wednesday. No matter how the world may change, "China will not slow down its climate actions, will not reduce its support for international cooperation, and will not cease its efforts to build a community with a shared future for mankind," said Xi. For a world standing at the crossroads of energy revolution and climate governance, investing in China means investing in the forefront of technological innovation, in the super market of the green economy, and in the common future of human sustainable development. 

We welcome more countries and enterprises to ride on the fast train of China's development and jointly write a new chapter of global green prosperity.