China Says Solar Has Overtaken Coal as Its Largest Power Source in Annual Climate Report

China’s solar power capacity has surpassed coal for the first time, making sunlight — not coal — the country’s largest single source of electricity generation capacity. The milestone was among the headline findings of Beijing’s annual report on climate policies and actions, released on Wednesday by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

Presenting the report, Vice Minister Li Gao said China had gradually forged a green, low-carbon development path. By the end of July, installed solar capacity had overtaken coal power, while combined wind and solar capacity reached 1.84 billion kilowatts. Total renewable capacity hit 2.46 billion kilowatts in the first half of 2026, accounting for 60.7% of all national power generation capacity.

Falling carbon intensity

The report says China’s carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP fell 17.7% in 2025 compared with 2020 levels, while non-fossil energy accounted for 21.7% of total energy consumption. Forest stock volume stood at 20.99 billion cubic metres, and the country’s combined installed capacity of operating and approved nuclear power units has risen to first place in the world.

Officials were keen to stress the industrial story behind the numbers. China says it has built the world’s largest and most complete clean energy supply chain, and that green industries have become an important engine of economic growth. Its new energy vehicle production and sales have ranked first globally for 11 consecutive years.

Scale, with a caveat

The figures underline how completely China now dominates the manufacturing and deployment of clean energy technology, from solar panels to electric vehicles. At the same time, the country remains the world’s largest total emitter of greenhouse gases, a reflection of its population and industrial scale — which is why the pace of its transition matters so much for global climate outcomes. On the evidence of this week’s report, Beijing intends that transition to accelerate, with renewables now structurally embedded as the majority of its power capacity.

Source: Xinhua via State Council Information Office