Participants attend a seminar at the 2025 International Energy Executive Forum in Beijing on December 11, 2025. Photo: Chu Daye/GT

 
China is dominant in the global green energy transition, Daniel Yergin, vice chairperson of S&P Global, told the Global Times on Thursday, on the sidelines of the 2025 International Energy Executive Forum in Beijing.

"China is not only the leader, but really dominant in the green energy transition, whether you look at electric vehicles (EVs), solar panels, or batteries," Yergin said, when asked to comment on China's role in the global green energy transition.

"China is in the lead and it will be a supplier to the world," Yergin said.

Yergin said that China's massive adoption of EVs, boosted by policy support, will "indirectly" improve its pricing power in global crude markets.

The remarks by the leading global energy strategist came as a number of global energy think tanks have highlighted the achievements of the Chinese energy sector, which is on a fast track to transition toward greener energy forms.

Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of S&P Global, talks to media on the sidelines of the 2025 International Energy Executive Forum in Beijing on December 11, 2025. Photo: Chu Daye/GT

The top energy expert also pointed out that China's oil demand, which accounted for half of newly added global demand for the past 20 years, is now basically flattening out, which is a decisive moment for the world oil market. 

Themed on "Join forces to shape a fair, secure, and intelligent new global energy ecosystem," the 2025 International Energy Executive Forum is being held in Beijing on Thursday and Friday.

The world will see renewable energy continue to expand while global oil demand will also grow to 2050, though at a slower rate, the expert predicted, noting that growth will largely be fueled by rising demand from developing countries.

The Recommendations for Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development, adopted in October, stated that "green development is a defining feature of Chinese modernization," according to the Xinhua News Agency.

In terms of the development of natural gas, which is a relatively clean-burning fossil fuel, Andrea Stegher, president of the International Gas Union, told the Global Times on the sidelines of the forum that he has seen "very positive" development of the Chinese gas industry in the past five years, including the development of gas storage capacity and pipeline networks.

Andrea Stegher, president of International Gas Union, talks to the Global Times on the sidelines of the 2025 International Energy Executive Forum in Beijing on December 11, 2025. Photo: Chu Daye/GT

Stegher said that there is a growing market for the fuel in China, while many other markets are also seeing additional demand, so there needs to be greater interaction across market players and Chinese gas companies are "well-placed for that kind of development."

The push by the world's second-largest economy and its global impact have also been noted by global energy think tanks. China's rapid expansion of renewables and sweeping electrification across its economy is reshaping global energy choices for the rest of the world, according to a report released in September by UK energy consultancy Ember.

That shift is creating conditions for a structural decline in fossil fuel use worldwide, Ember said in its China Energy Transition Review 2025.

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.

China is on a "very committed" and "steady path" toward green transition, Yergin said.