Clean energy top driver of China's economic growth in 2023: CREA

27 Jan '24

2 min read

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Clean energy contributed $1.6 trillion to China's economy last year, accounting for all of the growth in investment and a larger share of economic growth than any other sector, a think tank in Helsinki said.
The country's $890-billion investment in clean-energy sectors in 2023 was almost as large as total global investments in fossil fuel supply in the year.

Clean energy contributed a record CNY 11.4 trillion ($1.6 trillion) to China’s economy last year, accounting for all of the growth in investment and a larger share of economic growth than any other sector, according to an analysis by Helsinki-based think tank Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

Clean-energy investment rose by 40 per cent year on year (YoY) to 6.3 trillion yuan ($890 billion), with the growth accounting for all of the investment growth across the Chinese economy in 2023, the analysis found.

The country’s investment in clean-energy sectors was almost as large as total global investments in fossil fuel supply in 2023, and similar to the gross domestic product (GDP) of Switzerland or Turkiye.

Including the value of production, clean-energy sectors contributed 11.4 trillion yuan ($1.6 trillion) to the Chinese economy in 2023—up by 30 per cent YoY.

Clean-energy sectors, as a result, were the largest driver of China’ economic growth overall, accounting for 40 per cent of the expansion of GDP last year.

Without the growth from clean-energy sectors, China’s GDP would have missed the government’s growth target of ‘around 5 per cent’, rising by only 3 per cent instead of 5.2 per cent, the analysis concluded.

Meanwhile, the China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN), which has also been supplying clean power to 15 countries and regions, saw its installed capacity of clean energy top 100 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) last year. The company generated 333.8 billion kWh of grid power last year, an increase of 23.4 billion kWh from 2022, a state-controlled news outlet reported.

Grid power generated from clean energy by the company last year has helped reduce standard coal burning by over 100 million tonnes and cut carbon dioxide emissions by about 260 million tonnes.

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