China’s energy shift blends strategic ambition with industrial muscle. The country consumes about one-third of global electricity and, since 2023, Chinese firms have invested more than $180 billion in green-tech projects, largely across the Global South. Critics point to continued coal dependence, but recent declines in coal- and gas-fired generation and advances in technologies such as nuclear fusion suggest Beijing’s actions could materially alter global emissions and supply chains. The strategic and economic implications mean other governments cannot afford to ignore China’s green push.
What’s Driving China’s Green Push? Strategy, Security and the Global Supply Chain
China’s energy transition resists any single explanation. It is at once an industrial triumph, a geopolitical strategy and an uncertain bet for the global climate.
Big Numbers, Bigger Stakes
China consumes roughly one-third of the world’s electricity and manufactures far more solar panels in a single year than the United States has installed in total. A striking new finding from Australian economists adds another data point: since 2023, Chinese firms have directly invested more than $180 billion in green-technology projects and factories, with much of that investment concentrated in the Global South.
Power, Security and Supply Chains
That investment shows how Beijing is using energy capabilities to project influence. Chinese officials have taken advantage of retreats in other countries' climate leadership to position China as a central supplier of the technologies and equipment needed for cheaper, more reliable electricity. For many governments the objective is less ideological decarbonization than dependable power at predictable cost — and China increasingly looks like the fastest or only viable supplier.
Rob Meyer: 'How any country approaches its near-term decarbonization goals depends on how it understands and relates to the Chinese government and Chinese companies.'
Green Ambition Versus Coal Reality
Critics warn that China’s green image can overstate the case. The Breakthrough Institute calls the idea of a cutting-edge green "electrostate" a mirage that masks China’s enduring reliance on low-cost, polluting coal. The White House has voiced similar skepticism. As Richard Goldberg, until recently a senior White House energy adviser, put it: 'The administration views China’s green claims more like an information operation designed to obscure the actual mix of power sources we need to compete with.'
Early Signs Of Change
But the energy picture is not static. Coal- and gas-fired electricity generation in China fell this year for the first time since 2015 — a relatively small shift on the percentage scale but a very large change in absolute emissions and capital flows given China’s size. Beijing is also investing in next-generation power technologies; reported progress on nuclear fusion has caught the attention of policymakers in Washington and beyond.
Why It Matters
Whether driven by geopolitics, industrial policy or genuine climate goals, China’s green push is reshaping global supply chains, international investment flows and energy-security calculations. Governments and markets that ignore this shift risk missing how rapidly the global energy landscape is being reconfigured.
