You don't hear much praise for China in the United States these days. To be fair, China doesn't say great things about the US either.
(Laughter)
The two big nations are stuck in a geopolitical deadlock that is bad for progress to fight climate change. I'm a China sustainability policy analyst and I have witnessed a clean energy revolution there that could mean big things for the rest of the world. But it's become clear to me that if the US continues to see China as a threat, the desired transition will never happen at the faster pace and the larger scale as expected. We urgently need to pivot from the currently dismal relations and reset a constructive rather than destructive foundation for a global clean energy revolution.
(Applause)
Let's take a look at the clean energy manufacturing, because this seems to be where the tension lies today. Some US commentators said, "The best chance was 10 years ago. The second best chance is now." The best chance was China's drive to invest aggressively and ambitiously in clean technologies with the China Make 2025 campaign. The outcome is massive deployment of clean energy solutions that established China as a global leader in this landscape. The US Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, a climate law that pushes for investments in domestic clean energy production, represents the second best chance. The IEA executive director Fatih vividly called this dynamic “the beginning of a new age of clean energy manufacturing.”
A decade apart, China and the US stand at a different position along the global value chain. While China is already in the second decade of transition, the US is just starting to take off. The recent data shows China provided 77 percent of global batteries last year and it is right on track to lead all nations in manufacturing clean energy products by 2030. China's investment has also put it as a global leader, leading exporter of those technologies: solar, wind, batteries, you name it.
My professional experience also tells me that the US can learn a great deal from China's steadfast dedication to push forward the clean energy transition in some key ways.
Firstly, China is re-energizing the world's largest energy system with renewables and smart grid infrastructure. And the US can adapt this with a much shorter learning curve and reduced costs. The first half of this year saw 34 percent of China’s electricity generated from non-fossil fuels, right on track to deliver 39 percent by 2025, as has been planned, and aiming for 80 percent by 2035. Between now and 2035, China's national endeavors are focused on rapid expansion of installations and also consumption of clean energy in all sectors you could imagine. In the meantime, it's also dedicated to enhancing grid transmission and distribution systems to accommodate this growth of renewables.
US and China operate power systems in two different regulatory contexts, but share the logic and also technicality when designing and building a clean, smart, net-zero carbon emissions grid system. China is also becoming a real daredevil in pioneering the development of 5G and AI-enabled power systems and deploying the ultra-high-voltage grid systems supplemented by vehicle-to-grid technologies in order to accommodate the rise of EVs. China's experience can provide an invaluable reference or insight for the US to decarbonize your own power system.
Secondly, China is leading a global campaign to increase solar usage. The social, economic and environmental model deployed in China can help the US to address climate injustice challenges domestically. Solar energy is becoming the least-cost option for new electricity generation in most parts of the world today. The IEA forecasts an average annual solar generation growth of 25 percent between 2022 and 2030, which is about 10 times of the current total global installations, in order to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by mid-century. Or to put it another way, this is one kilowatt solar installation per person by 2030. That number stands today at one-tenth kilowatt globally. China is on its way to achieve two-fifths kilowatt by the end of this year.
To bridge the gap, a group of leading Chinese universities and institutions launched a China campaign advocating one kilowatt solar installation per person by 2030. The strategy is -- and also turning that into a global campaign, called Solar Lights the Planet. The strategy is to really use solar installation as the intervention point to explore how rural energy transition in China can benefit other UN sustainability targets. On one side, it's cost-effective. One kilowatt solar installation requires five square meters of space and a 500-dollar upfront investment to install. When completed, it generates green electricity while avoiding carbon emissions. And on the other side, it also demonstrates that co-benefits can be created and maximized. Rapid rural energy transition can bring new investment and also create green power-enabled growth opportunities, for instance, food, agriculture, fishery, energy services, tourism and other industries. China's experience definitely can be very valuable for the US to think about the solutions to address climate injustice. Solar Lights The Planet is the ambition. It also offers colleagues in the United States to work with peers from China and other parts of the world to really tackle the climate injustice challenge.
Thirdly, China is mainstreaming a circular economy and transforming its supply chains. Joining forces, China, the US, together with the EU, can literally reset the global supply chain solidly on sustainability. China is a global manufacturing powerhouse. Its demand for raw materials and critical metals is growing exponentially. As we all know, the planet cannot possibly afford the ecological destruction from quadruple, and in some cases even six times the current import of critical metals to match the planned energy transition. A circular economy offers a remedy to decouple the growth from resource use.
China is also well positioned to reset its supply chains with circularity at the core. Today, China recycles more than 95 percent of nickel and lithium. Business communities have a big role to play, providing solutions or answers to what hurdles to remove, what innovative solutions to deploy, what business models actually to promote, and very importantly, how to consolidate a global partnership to work together to shape our sustainable and circular global supply chain. Which is why a group of Chinese organizations are working together, kicking off a China Circularity 100 initiative, aiming by 2030 to really find the pathways to close the loop in recycling for critical metals and also for the energy sector. It's targeting at least 100 companies to work together to find the alternative pathways. China's practice can become a very important reference for the United States to make investment decisions to embrace circularity now.
So how do we jump-start a new US-China partnership? Well, the two governments ... should start with a revised narrative, one that is with good intention, as well as with collaborative spirit. In the meantime, the two nations need to assure the rest of the world that they are really seriously and sincerely working together to find their alternative and to rebuild partnership.
One thing to keep in mind: the climate change doesn't care about our ideological divide. Rather, it demands for collective actions that deliver outcomes.
Cornering China as a national security threat seems to claim that the US, rather than China, is the legitimate and trustworthy global leader in this transition. And yet, as the world's largest developed economy, the US doesn't meet the bar of what's expected of a global leader. Along the line, it doesn't provide the rest of the world with sufficient, accessible and affordable clean energy solutions, nor does it provide, deliver its financial commitments to other developing countries under the Paris Agreement.
And China undoubtedly has to go a long way too in rethinking its strategy and behavior in dealing with the US. It needs to make extra efforts to convince the world that it's not a threat, but rather a trusted partner, willing and capable to work with the US to shift towards a collaborative partnership.
Let me leave this stage with some sort of cautious optimism. My heart feels enlightened when media in our two countries start to tell different US-China stories. Treasury Secretary Yellen's China trip last week went viral in Chinese social media. The rainbow welcoming her landing in Beijing Airport represents some hope and also a new beginning of bilateral relations. And her love for the wild mushroom soup from Yunnan province --
(Laughter)
literally gives me this kind of a warm and also sweet human touch.
And I have a message to climate envoy John Kerry, who is coming to China later this month. You know, the two governments have already declared quite a number of joint commitments and collective actions to fight climate change. What's urgently needed now is a shared vision, mission, aspiration, wisdom and very importantly, a compass to guide everyone back on track, to take collective actions and deliver the due results. It seems to me that's the must-have precondition for us all in order to keep a sustainable future within reach.
Thank you.
(Applause)