Jakarta, August 28, 2025 – Over the past five years, China has increasingly strengthened its commitment to the global energy transition agenda by developing renewable energy component industries such as solar and wind, as well as electric vehicles. This massive industrial growth is driven, among other things, by China’s installed renewable energy capacity targets. In 2024 alone, China’s installed wind power capacity reached 520 GW, and solar power reached 890 GW. With this achievement, China has surpassed its 2030 installed renewable energy capacity target of 1.2 TW.
Arif Rosadi, Program Manager for Energy and Climate Diplomacy at the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR), stated in a webinar disseminating the study “China’s Role in the Global Energy Transition,” that China’s achievements today are the result of a consistent strategic planning process and industrial policy framework over the past several decades.
Arief stated that in addition to power generation, China has also emerged as the largest market and producer of electric vehicles, contributing nearly 80 percent of global electric vehicle sales growth by 2024. Furthermore, 38 percent of global investment for the energy transition also comes from China.
“Furthermore, both countries have significant potential. As the largest economies in Asia and Southeast Asia, China and Indonesia are strategically positioned to demonstrate climate leadership and shape the direction of global economic and green development. Indonesia can learn from China’s experience in increasing renewable energy, while China can play a key role in meeting Indonesia’s clean energy investment needs,” Arief said.
Angga Kusuma, author of the study “China’s Role in the Global Energy Transition”, stated that one of the keys to China’s success in accelerating the growth of low-carbon industries is an integrated effort that includes the private sector, state-owned enterprises, and financial institutions.
“The government effectively engages private companies and national banks in green development, encourages innovation, and provides funding for market expansion,” Angga said.
Ma Yu, Research Analyst at the Sustainable Transition Center (Energy Program), WRI China, stated that accelerating renewable energy development requires an enabling policy framework, multi-actor dialogue, and adequate support for learning and research.
“One important policy was the 2015 “Made in China 2025″ plan, which aimed to transform China from low-productivity to high-productivity manufacturing. This plan set a target of 70% of electric and hybrid vehicles sold in China to be produced by Chinese companies by 2020 and 80% by 2025,” said Ma Yu.
This policy laid the foundation that gave Chinese clean energy producers the confidence to expand from a national scale to a global scale. After signing the Paris Climate Agreement in 2016, China’s industrial strategy has become increasingly aligned with its climate goals.
Fahmi Islami, Lead Consultant at Mandala Consulting, highlighted the significant investment by Chinese companies in Indonesia and China’s dominance in the downstream industries of critical minerals such as nickel. One of the findings was the use of coal-fired power plants in nickel smelter operations, while the nickel produced will be used to support the development of low-carbon technology.
“There are differences in the operational standards of Chinese companies operating there (in China) and those operating abroad, such as in Indonesia. One such difference is the use of fossil fuels in Indonesia. They will adhere to applicable local laws and regulations, so we should issue regulations requiring them to also implement decarbonization efforts in their operations, such as reducing the use of captive coal-fired power plants,” said Fahmi.
The IESR recommends that emerging economies in the Global South, including Indonesia, seize the momentum of China’s rising leadership in developing renewable and low-carbon energy ecosystems as an opportunity to accelerate the energy transition and low-carbon economic growth.
