China's clean energy growth is impressive

Former UN official hails the nation's green revolution and innovation

Erik Solheim, former executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, has been closely following the two sessions in Beijing remotely from his home in Norway.

Solheim, who also served as UN under-secretary-general, has visited China frequently in the past decades, focusing primarily on China's sustainable and green development as well as the Belt and Road Initiative to build connectivity.

He said two keywords stand out for him from the two sessions, referring to the annual meetings of China's National People's Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. "One is 'stability' in a world of enormous uncertainty," he told China Daily. China is a stable power, with a long-term vision that underpins peace and sensible action for human development and the environment, he said.

Solheim said this was also evident from Premier Li Qiang's Government Work Report when he made the argument that China is a stable power.

Solheim said the 5 percent GDP growth target will make China the global powerhouse of growth.

"China will be contributing a huge percentage of the global growth," he said, adding that it will create "stability and prosperity for everyone".

Solheim said that the other word he has observed from the two sessions is "innovation".

"China's DeepSeek showcases how far China can be a leader in information technology," he said, citing China's leadership in solar, electric cars and electric batteries.

Solheim has just returned from a trip to South Asia. He said that in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, 85 percent of the cars are EVs, and the vast majority are Chinese, from BYD and Nio to Hongqi and Geely.

"So Chinese innovation in the green sector and IT sector is beneficial to China, for sure, but also the much wider world," he said.

Solheim marveled at how much progress China has made in cleaning its environment.

"The progress in cleaning up the waterways and air in China is amazing. No other nation has ever cleaned up in such a short period of time," he said.

He said he would not have gone for a run in Beijing 10 years ago, especially in winter, due to the air pollution. "Now I will happily do it because the sky is blue and the air is fresh. It's just wonderful," he said.

Solheim felt compelled to highlight China's achievements in clean energy. "The Chinese leadership in the energy of the future is astonishing, mind-boggling," he said, citing China's adding of 280 gigawatts of new solar capacity in 2024, more than the total that the U.S. has done in its history.

He has visited the world's largest solar farm in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Northwest China, and said "it's like an ocean. It's enormous and provides fantastic green energy". He has also visited Chinese solar panel companies, including Tongwei Solar, the world's largest producer of solar silicon, in Chengdu, Sichuan province.

So China leads in the energy of the future, solar energy, he said.

"It's simply the message to the world, you must step up and you must partner with China, otherwise, the transition will be much more expensive for you," Solheim said.

His message to the Chinese leaders, NPC deputies, and CPPCC National Committee members at the two sessions is to continue what China has done in the green revolution to make it even cheaper for the world, such as in solar power and EVs. "The efficiency of Chinese industrial eco-system in these areas is amazing," he said.