British media: China has reached a milestone, carbon emissions may have begun to decline

a report released by Carbon Briefing, a science and policy website in the UK dedicated to studying climate change, showed that while economic activity and energy demand continue to rise, China's carbon emissions decreased by about 1.6% year-on-year in the first quarter of this year and by about 1% in the 12 months ending in May this year. This means that China's carbon emissions are expected to peak ahead of schedule.

China may have reached a game changing milestone, "the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) announced on July 9th, calling it a celebratory moment as China achieved its first carbon emissions reduction while maintaining economic growth. China is deploying renewable energy technologies at a record pace and may play a leading role in global climate action in the future.

Lauri Myllyvirta, an analyst at the Finnish Centre for Energy and Clean Air Research (CREA), pointed out that in the past few years, China's carbon emissions have only decreased during periods of economic slowdown, such as during epidemics. But new research shows that China's carbon emissions have been steadily decreasing for over a year while the economy and energy are growing, and the newly added clean energy supply can meet the expanding demand for electricity.

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Mivirta wrote a report for the "Carbon Briefing" website, analyzing that the decline in carbon emissions is largely due to China's investment in renewable energy. In recent years, China's installed capacity of wind and solar power has accounted for more than half of the world's total. "Last year, China's installed capacity of solar power was comparable to that of the entire European Union, which was a very astonishing growth rate

Ember, a new energy think tank in the UK, also noted that in April of this year, wind and solar power generation accounted for more than a quarter of China's total electricity generation for the first time. In the first four months of this year, China's fossil fuel power generation decreased by 3.6% year-on-year. Analysts say that these changes are significant for an economy like China, which has long relied on coal power generation.

China is not only rapidly deploying renewable energy technologies, but also the world's largest producer of renewable energy equipment. The BBC points out that Chinese companies are at the forefront of clean energy technology, with wind turbines and solar panels accounting for 60% and 80% of global production, respectively. Experts generally believe that leading technology and production capacity are the key to China's balanced carbon emissions.

Christoph Nedopil Wang, Dean of the Asian Studies Institute at Griffith University in Australia, said that the emphasis on energy security has also driven China to increase its investment in renewable energy. "Relying more on renewable energy rather than energy imports will help improve China's national security