China has made major changes in its energy mix to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including cutting the use of coal and prioritizing the development of non-fossil fuels, the country announced in a white paper released on Wednesday.

The document outlines the country's progress and policies in mitigating climate change.

The proportion of coal in China's total energy consumption dropped from 72.4 percent in 2005 to 56.8 percent in 2020, white paper data showed.

"China has shifted from a coal-based energy production structure to a diversified one," said Sun Zhen, deputy director of the climate change department under the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, at a press conference accompanying the release of the white paper.

The country's energy consumption structure has become increasingly low-carbon, he added.

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Electricity generated by non-fossil energy reached 2.6 trillion kilowatt hours, representing more than one-third of the power consumption of the country in 2020, data showed.

Non-fossil energy contributed 15.9 percent to China's total energy consumption in 2020, a significant increase of 8.5 percentage points compared with 2005, data showed.

China has set a goal of peaking carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.

The country has also employed a market mechanism to incentivize emissions reduction. A national carbon market, which started online trading in July, serves as the world's largest emissions trading system with 2,162 power generation companies taking part.

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The country pledged to comprehensively increase the rate of renewable energy use, promote the green development of hydropower, and make comprehensive and coordinated progress in wind and solar power development.