Policy roadmap for China’s growth through decarbonisation: how government bodies can seize the green growth opportunity

China’s decarbonisation is both a defining force in the global green transition and a vision for its own green and prosperous future. This process matters beyond the sheer quantity of China’s emissions; Chinese leadership in clean technology can help other countries seize the green growth opportunity. Meanwhile, other countries’ transitions can create demand for the clean technologies China leads on, supporting its growth and deepening partnerships.

This policy insight initiates the development of a roadmap for China’s green growth opportunity. The authors apply the conceptual and universal framework of the green growth opportunity to China’s context, translating broad ideas into practical policy recommendations that complement Chinese expertise.

Key points for decision-makers

• Strategic planning and coordination should give public and private actors the stable and predictable environment they need to make near-term investments that produce long-term returns.
• Industry, technology and trade policy should shift from accommodating structural change to driving it.
• Finance will deliver the investment push that the green growth opportunity requires; China’s challenge here is reallocation rather than mobilisation.
• Environment and natural resources policy should treat the natural world as productive infrastructure.
• Local government should lead industrial decarbonisation, since manufacturing accounts for two-thirds of emissions and is largely regulated and implemented at the local level.
• Sustained public support is needed for research on climate impacts and their distribution, the technologies the harder-to-electrify sectors require, and the economics of systemic change, alongside the skills the transition will demand.