Clean energy innovation in China: The road ahead

In the last 20 years, China has strengthened its position on the global stage as an energy innovator, as illustrated by the stories of solar power and, more recently, electric mobility. This is the result of several decades of increasing policy focus on technology innovation, which underpin China’s ambitions to become a producer of knowledge and foster innovation-driven socio‑economic development. Looking forward, clean energy innovation will play a crucial role to achieve China’s objectives of carbon peaking before 2030 and neutrality before 2060, and ranks among core government priorities for the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021‑2025).

In September 2021, the IEA published An energy sector roadmap to carbon neutrality in China, which suggests a path forward for China to achieve carbon peaking and neutrality ambitions. In March 2022, this analysis was complemented by an innovation-specific report, Tracking Clean Energy Innovation – Focus on China. It maps the institutional and policy landscape of clean energy innovation in China and shows trends for selected metrics to track and explain progress of technology development. Both reports benefited from inputs and reviews from Chinese experts, academics and government officials.

The ECECP is a practical tool that supports the energy dialogue and delivers on the specific objectives of EU-China bilateral energy cooperation. It is jointly steered by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy and the Chinese National Energy Administration. The platform gathers a wide array of energy players in China and the EU including public authorities, energy associations, industry and businesses, as well as leading research institutes and thinks tanks.

This event, co-organised by the IEA and the ECECP, aims to present the main findings of the IEA report on clean energy innovation in China, and discuss with experts from government, academia and business about the policy and technology priorities and opportunities in the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025).

IEA contributions to the development and launch of the event were made possible through the Clean Energy Transitions in Emerging Economies programme, which received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 952363.