What is the calling card of Chinese manufacturing today? The answer is its New Trio—new-energy vehicles (NEVs), lithium-ion batteries and photovoltaic products—all are green products. But if you asked the same question in 2015, when the Paris Agreement was inked, the answer would have been clothing, furniture and household appliances—all are labor intensive items. 

This change was notable at the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP30, held in Belém, Brazil, from November 10 to 21. On November 10, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva arrived at the COP30 venue in a black NEV manufactured by Chinese automaker BYD. NEVs from Chinese brands BYD and Great Wall Motor were used to transport heads of state and delegates during the event. Both of these two NEV producers have plants in Brazil.

The first session of the China Pavilion on the sidelines of COP30 in Belém, Brazil, on November 10 (XINHUA) 

China's green drive 

Using NEVs and other new-energy products is one of the key ways to fight against climate change, as doing so reduces fossil fuel consumption, which in turn lowers carbon dioxide emissions.

China has affirmed many times its resolve to meet the goals of peaking carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality on major multilateral and bilateral occasions. On September 22, 2020, at the General Debate of the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that China would strive to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.

By incorporating carbon peak and neutrality goals into its socioeconomic development, China is rapidly advancing green, low-carbon work and lifestyles to fuel high-quality green development. Promoting NEVs is one of the many steps China has taken over the last decade to address climate change.

According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, 331,000 NEVs were sold in China in 2015, representing a market share of just 1.3 percent in the country's automotive market. Those numbers have risen dramatically in recent years. In 2024, China's annual production and sales of NEVs reached 12.89 million and 12.87 million units (accounting for 40.9 percent of the total new car sales in China) respectively. This is the 10th consecutive year that China has led the world in NEV production and sales, with its products now exported to more than 70 countries and regions. China's NEV sales this October surpassed 50 percent of all new car sales for the first time, reaching a new milestone.

"If you go out onto the streets of Beijing or many parts of China, a large share of vehicles are electric vehicles and as a result, air quality has improved exponentially," Siddharth Chatterjee, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in China, told Beijing Review in a recent interview.

Great prominence has been given to non-fossil energy in China. The percentage of non-fossil energy consumption increased from 16 percent in 2020 to 19.8 percent in 2024. China is developing offshore wind farms, actively promoting rooftop photovoltaic power generation in urban and rural areas, and encouraging distributed wind power generation in rural areas. It is also promoting the construction of large-scale wind and photovoltaic power bases on infertile and rocky terrain and in deserts.

"Let's take the example of the Kubuqi Desert in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in north China. It used to send most of the sandstorms into Beijing. Today, that entire desert ecosystem has been turned into an agricultural wonderland and a renewable energy source that includes photovoltaic cells and windmills," Chatterjee told Beijing Review.

According to a white paper titled Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality: China's Plans and Solutions, released by China's State Council Information Office on November 8, by the end of August, the installed capacity of wind and photovoltaic power had surpassed 1,690 gigawatts, triple that of 2020 and accounting for about 80 percent of the newly installed power generation capacity since 2020. The percentage of wind and photovoltaic power is steadily increasing at an average annual rate of 2.2 percentage points.

Traditional industries such as paper-making and coal-mining are also making efforts to contribute to carbon neutrality. China has been promoting clean and efficient use of coal, reducing its consumption, and replacing it with alternative energy resources. The proportion of coal in China's total energy consumption dropped from 56.7 percent in 2020 to 53.2 percent in 2024.

Such transition involves Just Transition, ensuring it addresses issues of inequality, vulnerability and opportunity. "China has long been engaged in work related to Just Transition. Its core philosophy remains people-centered, ensuring no one is left behind in the transition and providing support to affected vulnerable communities and groups during the transition process to ensure a smooth progression," Chen Ying, a fellow researcher with the Research Institute for Eco-Civilization at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told Beijing Review.

As a major coal-producing region, Shanxi Province is currently the most concentrated area for Just Transition research in China. It is also the only province in the country that has explicitly highlighted Just Transition in its provincial government work report and established special support funds. "Shanxi is actively exploring alternative non-coal industries, such as hydrogen energy and cultural tourism, to pursue Just Transition," Chen added.

Paper producers in China pursue carbon neutrality in other ways. In June 2025, Brazilian pulp supplier Suzano's China arm rolled out carbon neutral notebooks with pulp from forests certified for sustainable forest management. Through carbon footprint measurement and optimization, the product achieves carbon neutrality across its entire life cycle from raw material sourcing, production and logistics to post-consumption waste disposal. Any unavoidable carbon emissions generated during the process were offset through carbon credits. The notebooks were the first product in China's pulp and paper industry to receive ISO 14068-1 verification from the International Organization for Standardization for carbon neutrality. Also, the notebook's packaging features images of rare animal species including the giant panda, golden snub-nosed monkey, Amazon River dolphin and jaguar, catering to eco-conscious consumers while serving as an educational tool to raise awareness about biodiversity conservation.

"This product not only exemplifies green industry collaboration between China and Brazil but also creates a replicable solution for global value chain low carbon transition," Pablo Machado, Suzano Asia President of Business Management, told Beijing Review. "By helping our downstream manufacturers minimize their carbon footprints and enhance production capabilities, we enable them to create more sustainable and premium products," he added.

In addition, China is harnessing digital advancements to boost resource efficiency and environmental benefits, while applying AI, big data and cloud computing more widely across sectors like power systems, industry, agriculture, transportation and construction.

Facilitating international action 

"Over the past decade, China's massive investment in technological research and development has significantly reduced the cost of renewable energy. This has enabled the rapid global deployment of renewable energy and related technologies, benefiting the entire world," said Li Gao, China's Vice Minister of Ecology and Environment.

According to the aforementioned white paper, China's photovoltaic and wind power equipment and NEVs have been exported to over 200 countries and regions, supplying 70 percent of the world's wind power equipment and 80 percent of its photovoltaic panels, helping reduce the global cost of wind and photovoltaic power generation by more than 60 percent and 80 percent, respectively. The wind power equipment and photovoltaic products China exported during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25) have reduced carbon emissions in other countries by approximately 4.1 billion tons.

"For Global South countries in particular, China has made renewable energy accessible and affordable. This represents our most significant contribution to the global fight against climate change," Li said. By 2035, China is expected to be a key driver of the global energy transition, he added.

New NDCs 

Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are national climate action plans to cut emissions and adapt to climate impacts that each party to the Paris Agreement is required to establish and then update every five years. This year is the deadline year for all parties to submit their new round of NDCs.On September 24, at the UN Climate Summit, President Xi further clarified China's 2035 NDCs as follows: China will, by 2035, reduce economy-wide net greenhouse gas emissions by 7-10 percent from peak levels, striving to do better; increase the share of non-fossil fuels in total energy consumption to over 30 percent; expand the installed capacity of wind and solar power to over six times the 2020 levels, striving to bring the total to 3,600 gigawatts; scale up the total forest stock volume to over 24 billion cubic meters; make NEVs the mainstream in the sales of new vehicles; expand the National Carbon Emissions Trading Market to cover major high-emission sectors; and largely establish a climate adaptive society.

"China's NDCs are not merely emission reduction targets, but also objectives for energy transition, industrial upgrading and high-quality economic development. This reflects our philosophy of 'promoting transition through development and achieving better development through transition'," Vice Minister of Ecology and Environment Li told Southern Weekly on the sidelines of the COP30 conference. "Achieving this goal will require arduous efforts from China," he added.

"Achieving the new NDCs remains highly challenging, as it necessitates structural transformations in our development model," Zhang Jian, Deputy Dean of the Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development at Tsinghua University, told Beijing Review.

Zhang took the goal of 3,600 gigawatts of installed capacity of wind and solar power as an example. He said that the expansion from zero to 1,200 gigawatts and then to 3,600 gigawatts represents not just numerical growth, but a systemic overhaul of the power structure. Reaching 3,600 gigawatts will only be possible within a new-type power system featuring massive energy storage, long-distance transmission, and extensive flexible adjustment capabilities. Therefore, the 3,600-gigawatt target itself is ambitious, but even more demanding is the supporting infrastructure required.

"More importantly, the key lies in leveraging these NDCs to catalyze actions from both the public and private sectors, thereby further reducing transition costs, breaking through economic thresholds and inspiring proactive transformation across society," Zhang said.

Ma Jun, Director of Beijing-based Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, echoed Zhang's views. "Addressing climate change requires public participation. To borrow a metaphor from the opening of the COP30 conference, public participation is like the Amazon River—the convergence of multiple tributaries creates a far more powerful driving force," Ma told Beijing Review.

(Print Edition Title: The Great Green Shift) 

Copyedited by G.P. Wilson

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