LONDON, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- China's huge investment and rapid technological progress have driven remarkable advances in renewable energy and clean technology, experts said, noting that such progress has also contributed to the global green transition.
Commenting on reports released this month by the Britain-based global energy think tank Ember, which highlighted China's achievement in clean energy growth, Chris Aylett, research fellow at the Environment and Society Center of Chatham House, told Xinhua: "Deployment of renewable energy in China in recent years has been nothing short of spectacular."
Aylett said China has established a commanding lead in renewable energy, electric vehicles, and other low-carbon products, which together serve as a major driver of economic growth.
According to Ember's Global Electricity Mid-Year Insights, China met all of its power demand growth in the first half of 2025 through clean electricity generation, while cutting fossil fuel generation and emissions. The country remained the clear frontrunner in global clean energy growth, accounting for 55 percent of the global rise in solar generation and an 82 percent rise in wind generation.
China's solar output grew by 43 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2025, well above the global average of 31 percent, while its wind generation rose by 16 percent, more than double the global average, the report said.
Xiao-Ping Zhang, professor of electrical power systems at the University of Birmingham, attributed this progress to China's large-scale investments in constructing a modern power grid, particularly in the application of ultra-high voltage AC and DC transmission technologies.
China leads the world in applying clean technology and reducing the cost of new-energy products, such as solar panels, wind turbines, and batteries, Zhang said.
Yang Tao, professor of electrical systems at the University of Nottingham, echoed Zhang's view, emphasizing that advanced technologies have enabled large-scale integration of renewables into the national grid.
Yang added that the growth of electric vehicles and other clean-energy applications has expanded domestic consumption, noting that China's commitment to reducing carbon intensity and achieving carbon neutrality has remained steady and effective over the past two decades.
According to another report by Ember, China Energy Transition Review 2025, China's clean energy transformation is fundamentally reshaping the global energy economy.
Kostantsa Rangelova, global electricity analyst at Ember, commented that China is not only a leader in expanding the application of renewables domestically, but through its green progress, it has also dramatically reduced the cost to deliver clean technologies worldwide.
Through China's investment in the electro-technology revolution, the costs of wind turbines, solar panels, batteries, and electric vehicles are increasingly lowering, offering many emerging economies opportunities to overtake developed countries in wind and solar generation share and in electrification, Rangelova said.
Britain also benefits from China's green transition. Sun Yixian, associate professor at the University of Bath, described Chinese companies as key supporters for Britain's energy transition in certain fields by lowering prices and giving consumers incentives to use clean energy.
In June 2025, Octopus Energy, a leading British energy supplier, partnered with Chinese automaker BYD to launch Britain's first vehicle-to-grid bundle, offering users "free charging" through smart charge-discharge technology and rebates.
As the cost of renewable energy and low-carbon products goes down, "countries have been able to reduce their dependence on imported fossil fuels, expand energy access, cope with blackouts and price spikes, cut air pollution, as well as advance towards their climate targets," Aylett said.
Zhang expressed his optimism that there are new opportunities for China-UK cooperation in areas such as offshore wind, grid transmission and integration, and hydrogen systems. ■