China's rapid electrification and surge in solar and wind generation are set to reduce fossil fuel use, according to Ember's report released on September 9, 2025. Source: screenshot of Ember's report

China's rapid expansion of renewables and sweeping electrification across its economy is reshaping global energy dynamics, with a report released on Tuesday by an international energy think tank saying the shift is creating conditions for a structural decline in fossil fuel use worldwide.

The report, China Energy Transition Review 2025, was released by Ember, which is based in the UK. The report said that accelerating deployment of renewables, grids and storage in China, combined with the electrification of transport, buildings and industry, are rapidly bringing China itself toward a peak in energy-related fossil fuel use, while also reducing costs and accelerating the uptake of clean electro-technologies in other countries.

The report said that "China is the biggest investor in clean energy worldwide, spending $625 billion in 2024 - 31 percent of the global total of $2.033 trillion." Investment and production in clean energy contributed 13.6 trillion yuan ($1.9 trillion) to the national economy in 2024 - a sum equivalent to about one-tenth of China's GDP, or the total GDP of Australia - and the sector is growing three times faster than the Chinese economy overall, it noted.

"China has opened the door to a new energy future by building electro-technologies at vast scale, slashing costs and raising the ceiling of possibility," the report stated. "The consequences reach far beyond its borders, enabling the emerging market energy leapfrog and swinging global fossil fuel demand from unrelenting growth to the brink of structural decline."

According to Ember, 91 percent of newly commissioned wind and solar facilities globally are cheaper than the cheapest available form of fossil fuel generation. With Chinese factories producing about 60 percent of the world's wind turbines and 80 percent of solar panels, it is predominantly Chinese policy and investments that have driven the global price reductions.

According to Ember's report, electrification is advancing fastest in countries from Mexico and Chile to Egypt, Bangladesh and Vietnam, with Chinese technologies playing a key role in Asia. It noted that electricity-first industrialization is now radiating from eastern China to Southeast Asia, with nations such as Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia and Bangladesh rapidly increasing the share of electricity in their final energy use.   

Across Africa, solar panel imports from China rose 60 percent in the past 12 months, and 20 African countries imported a record amount over that period, Ember said in another report recently, according to the New York Times.

The report further underlined China's leadership in innovation. "If 'made in China' captured the country's role in the 2010s, 'invented in China' increasingly captures its role today. China has become the energy transition's science laboratory as well as its factory. China's share of patent applications globally in clean-energy technologies rose from about 5 percent in 2000 to about 75 percent in 2022."

Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, told the Global Times that China's energy structure of "scarce oil, limited gas and abundant coal" makes the clean energy transition both inevitable and urgent. 

"Developing renewables is not only about green growth, it is also about national security," Lin said, adding that recent hydropower projects and deep sea oil and gas exploration reflect how advanced technologies and strong policy support are accelerating this shift.

He noted that China is also deepening clean energy cooperation with BRICS and Belt and Road partners. "Joint projects in solar, wind, hydropower and grid connectivity are improving energy security for partner countries while sharing China's technologies and experience. This is China's contribution to the global green transition," Lin said.

China has shown strong momentum in developing clean energy alongside advanced technologies. China on Monday released a plan to speed up the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into its energy sector, in order to bolster energy security, improve energy efficiency, and advance the country's green, low-carbon transition.

The plan calls for using AI technology to improve state grid security, green renewable energy integration, and energy efficiency through smarter forecasting, more automated planning, intelligent construction management and more, while enhancing AI-assisted decision-making to ensure safe, reliable, and low-carbon operation across energy generation, load, and storage.