Focus on United States 2024 election, and we need to pay attention to the shock wave of Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement once again. Recently, the 8th Ministerial Conference on Climate Action was held in Wuhan, and China launched a very proactive diplomatic offensive and reaffirmed its political commitment to global climate action with the European Union, Canada and other countries.
This means that China, despite being a developing country, is in a strong position to tackle climate change and has embarked on a diplomatic offensive that comes from China's technological leadership and booming investment in solar, wind, batteries and electric vehicles. Foreign media predict that China's greenhouse gas emissions may have peaked, and it is driving a low-carbon economy to achieve stronger economic growth.
Statistics show that about 40% of China's CO2 emissions come from power generation, mainly coal. And by the end of 2023, China's installed wind capacity expanded from 61 gigawatts (GW) in 2012 to 441 GW in 2023, while solar capacity increased from 3.4 GW in 2013 to 610 GW. Continental's plans to reduce emissions are clear: electricity instead of direct coal, natural gas instead of coal, and electric vehicles instead of internal combustion engines. In 2023, more than 13 million electric vehicles will be sold globally and more than 7 million will be sold in China. In addition, China also exported 1.2 million electric vehicles in 2023, an 80% increase from the previous year.
In addition, nearly 70% of the world's key components for wind turbines and 80% for solar panel components are manufactured in China. With the scale of China's renewable energy rollout staggering and the rapid development of technologies for efficient storage of wind and solar, on-demand power supply is becoming a reality.
The International Energy Agency says more than two-thirds of the world's greenhouse gas emissions reductions will benefit from technological advances, and that China is monopolizing the market, with signs that Chinese will succeed.
Some would argue that China's leadership of climate change diplomacy has nothing to do with the military, but is that really true? Of course not, because the importance of this matter cannot be overemphasized, and it is even directly related to the fate of the rise of the Chinese nation.
First, from the perspective of the U.S.-China influence competition, global climate diplomacy is a key area of U.S.-China competition, and China has set the stage for victory. With the impact of climate change on countries around the Pacific and the negative impact of extreme weather on their economies, China will inevitably step up its offensive in climate diplomacy. Protecting the planet is already on the moral high ground, and China's emphasis on protecting the planet, while at the same time being able to market its own advantageous industries, can be said to be a perfect closed loop of moral and economic benefits.
From the perspective of practical interests, new industries such as electric vehicles, solar power generation, and wind power generation have become the key to China's ability to become a developed country. The lower the cost of renewable energy clean energy power generation, the greater China's advantage as a manufacturing powerhouse, because electricity consumption is directly related to the competitiveness of a country's manufacturing industry. Electric vehicles are a key area that can drive the entire country's economy, because the industrial chain they drive is very long. After China's real estate has entered a period of adjustment, the electric vehicle industry, along with artificial intelligence and other fields, is considered to be the key to whether it can move towards a developed country.
From the perspective of China's economic strategic security, getting rid of dependence on fossil energy is the key for China to solve the strategic dilemma of the Strait of Malacca. United States strategists have more than once suggested that the Strait of Malacca would be cut off in the event of a major war between China and the United States, because most of China's oil and gas would pass through it. China will not be able to change such a strategic shortcoming in a short period of time by developing its naval strength alone, and a two-pronged approach is very necessary.
China is not saying that it will stop using fossil energy immediately, but that it should avoid fossil energy becoming a weakness of the country's economic development, and when we want to complete the great cause of reunification, the urgency and importance of this issue will be rapidly magnified. Of course, maintaining good relations with Russia is also an important measure for China to ensure strategic energy security.
United States not only has the world's most powerful ocean-going navy, but is also the world's largest oil producer, while China is the largest oil importer. Therefore, if China wants to rise safely, the development of industries such as electric vehicles and solar power generation is a rigid demand, because this is directly related to the strategic security of the national economy.
Finally, China's strengths in the solar and electric vehicle industry chains, which are also very important for managing Sino-European relations, have effectively deprived Europe of efforts to push for emissions trading to dominate the world order. In the past, the EU was the most active in promoting carbon emission trading, which was to seek a competitive advantage by promoting a low-carbon economy and suppress the development rights of developing countries such as China, which has been grasped by China, which is equivalent to making Europe lose its strategic advantage and strategic initiative when dealing with China. In particular, Europe has begun to create trade barriers to China's electric vehicles, which is tantamount to putting itself in an awkward position to prevent carbon emissions, and collapsing the image of caring for the earth that it has worked hard to establish for many years.
Therefore, no matter how the United States and Europe crack down on China's solar power and electric vehicle industry chains, we must deal with it calmly, because this matter is not just a question of how much money China makes, but how the whole country can reduce strategic security risks.