White paper details country's low-carbon efforts (2)

The trees of the Saihanba forest farm in Chengde, Hebei, help clean the air. [Photo by Wu Bo/for China Daily]

During the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) period, China experienced average annual economic growth of 5.7 percent, but its average annual growth in energy consumption was just 2.8 percent, it said. During the time, the energy saved in the country accounted for roughly half of the global total.

It also noted an "accelerated clean, low-carbon transformation" in the country's energy consumption mix. The proportion of coal in the mix decreased from 72.4 percent in 2005 to 56.8 percent in 2020.

Sun Zhen, deputy head of climate change at the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, pledged that consistent efforts would be made to control the growth of coal consumption, along with intensified endeavors to promote renewable energy development.

China will strive to establish a new type of power generation system that could accommodate a high proportion of intermittent renewable energies, he said.

The document also details the country's achievement in promoting new energy development.

China has outpaced all other nations with regard to the production and sale of new energy vehicles for six consecutive years, it said. It has also topped the world in the outputs of some major facilities for photovoltaic power generation over the past eight years.

"As the world's largest manufacturer of equipment for clean energy, China will proactively promote the development and utilization of clean energy around the globe and international cooperation in this regard," Sun said, adding that the country will also help developing nations make their energy supply efficient, clean and diversified.