These figures put China in third place in the world rankings in terms of installed capacity, after the US and Germany, taking the third place from Spain.
 

"In terms of the scale and the pace of the build-up of the Chinese wind industry, it's without parallel anywhere in the world ever," Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) secretary general Steve Sawyer was quoted by AFP as saying last month. "At the current rate, they will be the number one in the world in cumulative capacity by the end of 2011, early 2012," he predicted.

 

Already major player in the global solar market, China is increasingly flexing its muscles in wind. “China has a complete industrial supply chain for wind power,” Shi Lishan said. “In 2003, the country was not capable of producing wind power stations.” Giant wind farms are mushrooming in China. Last summer, construction of the country’s first 10 megawatt wind farm began in Jiuquan, Gansu province. Its capacity will be extended to 20 gigawatts by the end of 2020.

 

 

China, the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter, is aiming for 15 percent of its energy to come from renewables by 2020. Today, coal still accounts for some 70 percent of the country’s power. But China's reticence to make a formal commitment on emissions reductions during the Copenhagen Climate Summit early this month was the target of harsh criticism from the international community.

 

Nevertheless, the Chinese authorities see green technologies as key growth drivers that will allow the country to reduce its dependence on low added-value exports. According to the China Greentech Initiative report published in September, green technologies could represent some 15 percent of China’s GDP in 2013. But the Chinese cleantech market still has challenges ahead, particularly as regards intellectual property protection, financing and regulation.