China’s Low-Carbon Development

China’s clean energy policy has advanced rapidly in recent years. In its last five-year plan, China aimed to reduce energy intensity by 20 percent between 2005 and 2010: a very ambitious goal. What policies and strategies did China employ to meet this target, and how did they perform? What lessons does this hold for China’s current five-year plan, which includes targets to further reduce the energy and carbon intensity of its economy? And what are the environmental and economic implications of China’s activities for the United States and the international community?

On May 31, the John L. Thornton China Center hosted Qi Ye, director of the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) at Tsinghua University, who shared the findings of CPI’s recent report, “Review of Low-Carbon Development in China 2010.” Professor Qi summarized China’s energy and emissions performance in key sectors, described the policies and instruments implemented to meet this target, and provided initial insights for China’s future low-carbon development. Trevor Houser, partner of the Rhodium Group and director its Energy and Climate Practice, provided comments to the presentation.

After the discussion, the speakers took audience questions.