Clean-energy tech contributes 10% of China's growth, UK analysis finds

For the first time ever, clean-energy technologies contributed more than 10 percent of China's economic growth in 2024, with sales and investments worth $1.9 trillion.

Clean-energy sectors drove a quarter of the country's GDP growth in 2024 and have overtaken real-estate sales in value.

Based on official figures, industry data and analyst reports, the new sector-by-sector analysis for the UK-based analyst Carbon Brief shows the growing role of clean technology in China's economy – notably the so-called "new three" industries of solar, electric vehicles (EVs) and batteries.

The research also found that China's clean-energy investment reached $950 billion in 2024 – 7 percent up year-on-year, and greater than the GDP of Switzerland or Poland. 

The clean sector grew three times as fast as the Chinese economy overall, and accounted for 26 percent of the country's 2024 GDP growth. Its $1.9 trillion share of the economy is now greater than that of real-estate sales ($1.3trn) or agriculture ($1.25trn).

Drilling down into the sector itself, electric-vehicle production was the most valuable, followed by clean-power production, rail transportation, electricity transmission and storage and energy efficiency.