A new analysis shows that roughly 90% of China’s investment growth last year came from green energy, underscoring how decisively clean industries now drive the country’s economic expansion. According to research from the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air published by Carbon Brief, clean energy sectors propelled more than 90% of capital growth in 2025 and now rival all but seven national economies in scale.
China’s clean energy industries generated a record 15.4 trillion yuan, about $2.2 trillion, in business last year, placing them on par with the gross domestic products of Canada or Brazil. The sector accounted for 11.4% of China’s GDP, up from 7.3% in 2022, reflecting how rapidly renewables and related technologies have become embedded in the broader economy.
For the second time in the past few years, over 30% of Beijing’s economic growth came from the manufacture, deployment, and export of batteries, electric vehicles, solar panels, wind turbines, and related technologies.
In real terms, the value of clean energy industries nearly doubled between 2022 and 2025, leaving the country increasingly reliant on their continued expansion. Clean energy expansion was critical last year; without it, China would have fallen short of its official 5% growth goal. Most of the new capacity is being absorbed domestically, as China’s rollout of wind and solar power has recently proceeded at twice the pace of deployment across the rest of the world combined.
Government advisers describe this as more than a shift in electricity generation, characterizing it instead as a system-wide transformation of infrastructure, transport, and industrial production. Investment growth was especially pronounced in the battery sector, where rapid technological advances are improving electric vehicle performance and strengthening grid-scale energy storage.
Exports are also accelerating, supported by China’s role as the world’s dominant manufacturing hub. The International Energy Agency has credited this expansion with delivering the cheapest electricity in history through solar power, making renewable energy affordable across many developing countries.
Lauri Myllyvirta, the report’s lead author, said similar acceleration is emerging elsewhere, noting that many African nations have rapidly increased solar imports and that electric vehicles are appearing in markets previously considered unlikely adopters.
If the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter continues moving away from fossil fuels at its current pace, he said, carbon emissions may soon peak or could already have done so, marking a significant global turning point. That outcome, however, is not guaranteed.
China’s coal industry remains a powerful political force and continues to contest the speed of the energy transition. Developers submitted proposals last year for 161 gigawatts of new coal-fired capacity, with roughly 290 gigawatts already permitted or under construction.
Climate campaigners warn that this expansion risks leaving stranded assets and causing higher system costs and a more difficult transition, even as solar power is expected to overtake coal in China for the first time in 2026. Elsewhere, companies like GeoSolar Technologies Inc. are working to bring renewable energies like solar power to more communities and these efforts could accelerate the switch in more places around the world.
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