An aerial drone photo taken on July 3, 2025 shows a solar power station for agricultural use in the Yi-Hui-Miao Autonomous County of Weining, southwest China's Guizhou Province. [Photo/Xinhua]

China has made concrete progress in pursuing green and low-carbon development over the past five years, making significant contributions to global climate action, according to a white paper released on Saturday.

The white paper, titled "Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality China's Plans and Solutions," presents a comprehensive overview of China's major achievements in pursuing peak carbon and carbon neutrality over the last five years and shares China's approaches, actions and experience.

China has contributed about one-fourth of newly added green areas worldwide over the past two decades, and ranks among the countries with the fastest decline in energy consumption intensity, said the white paper. China has blazed a viable trail for developing countries to pursue green and low-carbon development, thereby making significant contributions to global climate action and the sustainable development of humanity.

Five years after the announcement of its ambitious peak carbon and carbon neutrality goals in 2020, China has achieved historic results in advancing the green and low-carbon transition through concrete action, painstaking efforts and a commitment to the principle that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets.

China has established the most systematic and comprehensive carbon reduction policy framework in the world, built the world's largest and fastest-growing renewable energy system, developed the largest and most complete new energy industrial chain globally, and achieved the largest and fastest promotion and adoption of new energy vehicles in the world, the white paper noted.

In line with the requirements of the Paris Agreement, China has demonstrated the highest possible ambitions in its national climate action plan, also known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), taken the most substantial actions and advanced its goals resolutely, the white paper added.

In 2020, China announced that it would strive to reach peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060 -- and presented its 2030 NDCs.

On Sept. 24, 2025, at the United Nations Climate Summit, China clarified its 2035 NDCs -- thereby injecting fresh momentum and certainty into global climate governance and demonstrating China's stance as a responsible major country that champions integrity.

As part of its new NDCs, China will reduce economy-wide net greenhouse gas emissions from peak levels by 7 percent to 10 percent by 2035, striving to do better. China also announced the goals to increase the share of non-fossil fuels to over 30 percent of its total energy consumption, and to expand its installed wind and solar power capacity to more than six times the 2020 level by 2035 -- working hard to elevate this capacity to 3,600 gigawatts.

China has actively fulfilled reporting obligations, compiling and submitting national greenhouse gas inventory reports, national reports on climate change, biennial update reports, and biennial transparency reports on a timely basis as mandated -- thus showing high-standard and consistent compliance.

Over the years, China has developed numerous clean power projects in Belt and Road partner countries, contributing to their green energy transition and high-quality development.

Noting that the year 2025 marks the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement, the white paper points out that over the past decade, despite some ups and downs in global climate governance, green and low-carbon development has become an unstoppable trend.

"Only through concrete measures and solid actions can we turn the goals of tackling climate change into reality, and only then can we better protect Earth, the shared home of humanity," the white paper noted.