In the last 20 years, the People’s Republic of China (hereafter, “China”) has strengthened its position on the global stage as an energy innovator, as illustrated by the stories of solar power and, more recently, electric mobility. This is the result of several decades of increasing policy focus on technology innovation, which underpin China’s ambitions to become a producer of knowledge and foster innovation-driven socio‑economic development. Looking forward, clean energy innovation will play a crucial role to achieve China’s objectives of carbon peaking by 2030 and neutrality by 2060, and ranks among core government priorities for the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021‑2025).

Achieving global energy and climate policy goals will require more, better and cheaper low-carbon energy technologies. Most energy technologies are not on track to provide the clean energy transitions targeted by governments, according to IEA annual monitoring. Many technologies required to lower emissions to so-called “net zero” levels are not ready for markets, notably in sectors hard to decarbonise such as heavy industry and long-distance transportation, for which large-scale low-carbon solutions are not widely available.

Governments are central to the success of clean energy innovation, and global policy support needs strengthening. In the People’s Republic of China (hereafter, “China”), support for innovation has significantly increased in the last two decades, as the country became the world’s manufacturing powerhouse for several key energy technology areas, such as solar photovoltaics (PV), wind turbines and batteries for electric vehicles (EVs). Looking forward, China’s focus on technology innovation and development is expected to strengthen, notably to deliver on long-term carbon neutrality objectives and position the country in global value chains for clean energy technologies. This has important implications for global policy discussions, as China’s ability to innovate effectively will have implications for global energy transitions.

This report serves as an extension to the chapter on “Innovation for carbon neutrality” in the IEA Energy Sector Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality in China and provides complementary analysis and information. It seeks to map the landscape of clean energy innovation in China, in a similar way to the technology innovation sections of energy country reviews for IEA member countries. It aims to identify key developments in recent years, notably since the IEA last published on the topic in 2015, and to show trends for selected metrics that may be used to track progress of innovation. This report is part of broader IEA work to support China’s vision of a carbon-neutral future, and aspires to summarise insights from China’s energy innovation story in recent years and key announcements to date for the coming period to illustrate the foundation upon which the 14th Five-Year Plan (FYP) (2021‑2025) might build.

Source: IEA