Climate News

Clean energy drove more than a third of China's economic growth in 2025, analysis finds

Clean-energy industries supplied more than a third of China's economic growth in 2025, according to an analysis by Lauri Myllyvirta and Belinda Schaepe of the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), published by Carbon Brief on 5 February. The sectors, led by electric vehicles, batteries and solar power, contributed a record 15.4tn yuan ($2.1tn), or 11.4% of GDP, up from 7.3% in 2022. They grew by 18% in the year and accounted for more than 90% of the net rise in investment.

Without them, the analysts estimate, China's GDP growth would have been 3.5% rather than the reported 5.0%. Clean-energy investment reached 7.2tn yuan ($1.0tn), roughly four times what went into fossil-fuel extraction and coal power, and China installed 315GW of solar and 119GW of wind capacity. Caixin Global noted that the industry's value nearly doubled from 8.4tn yuan in 2022, while the South China Morning Post headlined that the sector, now worth US$2.1 trillion, rivals Brazil's GDP.

"An ongoing slowdown could turn the sectors into a drag on GDP." — CREA analysts, via Carbon Brief

How each outlet framed it

• Carbon Brief — the full breakdown: EVs and vehicle batteries made up about 44% of clean-energy value and solar 19%.
• Caixin Global — the Beijing-based outlet stressed that oversupply, price wars, power-market reform and US moves to end solar tax credits put the momentum in doubt.
• South China Morning Post — the scale comparison: one group of industries now about as large as a major national economy.

What we don't know yet: the authors say falling clean-tech prices mean the real GDP contribution will probably be revised down when new price data arrive, and solar growth has already slowed under a new pricing system. Their investment measure also differs from official fixed-asset investment, which fell 3.8% in 2025.