This file photo taken on October 23, 2022 shows China's President Xi Jinping speaking during the introduction of members of the Chinese Communist Party's new Politburo Standing Committee, the nation's top decision-making body, to the media in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. (Photo by NOEL CELIS / AFP)
BEIJING: Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee (CPC), has called for greater efforts to push for the high-quality growth of the new energy sector to ensure the nation’s energy security and contribute to building a clean and beautiful world.
He made the remarks while presiding over a group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee last week.
Noting that energy security impacts a country’s overall economic and social development, Xi said that developing clean energy and promoting green and low-carbon transformation have become the consensus of the international community to cope with global climate change.
China’s energy development still faces a series of challenges, such as huge demand pressure, supply constraints, and the arduous tasks of green and low-carbon transformation, he said.
To meet these challenges, the way out is to vigorously develop new energy, he added.
Xi pointed out that China is rich in wind power, photovoltaic and other resources, and has huge development potential in new energy.
The nation has now built the world’s largest clean power supply system, and its new energy vehicles, lithium batteries and photovoltaic products are also highly competitive in the global market, he said.
With a solid foundation in new energy development, China has become a key driver of global energy transformation and the fight against climate change, Xi noted.
Last year witnessed an accelerated pace of green and low-carbon transformation in China.
The total installed capacity of renewable energy in the country reached 1.45 billion kilowatts in 2023, accounting for over 50% of the country’s total installed power generation capacity and historically surpassing that of thermal power, according to data from the National Energy Administration (NEA).The international competitiveness of China’s wind and photovoltaic industries has become increasingly prominent.
NEA said that in 2023, China’s production of key components, such as wind turbines, accounted for over 70% of the global market, while the production proportion of polysilicon, silicon wafers, solar cells and modules in the photovoltaic industry all exceeded 80% of the global total.
To promote the high-quality development of new energy, Xi underlined the need to deal with the relationships between new energy and traditional energy, the government and the market, as well as energy development and energy conservation.
He emphasised the importance of targeting globally cutting-edge technology in the energy sector, intensifying joint efforts in making progress in core technologies in key fields and enhancing the transformation and application of research achievements. — China Daily/ANN
