Beyond pledges: China's climate action is a blueprint for the world

Editor's note: Xin Ge, a special commentator on current affairs for CGTN, is a research fellow at the Institute of Public Policy and Governance, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics (SUFE), and a chair associate professor at the School of Public Administration and Policy, SUFE. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily those of CGTN.

When the world leaders prepare for the 2025 climate summit, the global conversation is saturated with urgency but starved of proven, scalable solutions. As Chinese President Xi Jinping noted at the summit, "Great visions require concrete actions," and it is this focus on implementation that set China's approach apart. Amidst a landscape of stalled progress and unmet promises, the international community should look to China, not merely as a speaker making pledges, but as a practitioner demonstrating pathways for climate governance.

For years, China has been engineering a comprehensive suite of domestic policies, market tools and international partnerships that together offer a tangible blueprint for global climate governance. This multi-layered approach can be understood on three levels: a robust domestic strategy, a new paradigm of international cooperation, and a powerful demonstration effect that is reshaping the global climate landscape.

First, China's domestic governance has established a clear and executable chain of command from national ambition to on-the-ground implementation. 

President Xi's 2020 announcement of peaking carbon emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060 has become the "polestar" for all climate-related policy. This commitment was not left as a standalone pledge; it was systematically operationalized through the "1+N" policy framework, and at the 2025 summit, China announced its next concrete steps. The new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) for 2035 include ambitious targets such as increasing the share of non-fossil fuels in total energy consumption to over 30 percent, expanding wind and solar power capacity to over 3,600 gigawatts, and making new energy vehicles the mainstream in new vehicle sales. These targets ensure that the national vision is translated into concrete, sector-specific actions.

In its policy toolkit, China has pioneered a hybrid model that marries market mechanisms with firm administrative guidance. The national Emissions Trading System (ETS), launched in 2021, is a cornerstone of this effort. Now one of the world's largest carbon markets by volume, it covers key sectors like power generation. Through its carefully designed framework of allowance allocation, trading, and regulation, the ETS provides a clear price signal and a powerful incentive for corporate decarbonization, offering a valuable case study for other nations.

Second, the speed and scale of China's energy and technological transition have a decisive global impact. 

This is the result of deliberate industrial policy that has catalyzed technological advancements and driven down costs across the entire clean energy supply chain. The "China price" that once defined consumer electronics now applies to solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicle (EV) batteries. This aligns with President Xi's call to "strengthen international coordination in green technologies and industries ... and ensure the free flow of quality green products globally so that the benefits of green development can reach all corners of the world." China's dominance in the EV market, for instance, has made electric mobility more affordable and accessible for consumers worldwide.

Third, in the realm of international cooperation and climate finance, China has evolved from a recipient of aid to a vital contributor and partner. 

Through platforms like South-South cooperation, the greening of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and various bilateral agreements, China provides critical technical assistance and financial support to developing nations. This approach is grounded in a firm belief in equity. As President Xi stated, countries need to "honor the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, whereby developed countries should take the lead in fulfilling emission reduction obligations and provide more financial and technological support to developing countries." This engagement has tangibly enhanced the climate adaptation and mitigation capabilities of its partners.

The international impact of this practice-oriented approach is threefold: institutional modeling, technology diffusion, and norm-shaping. Institutionally, China's ETS, carbon pricing experiments, and energy transition policies serve as replicable models for other developing countries charting their own decarbonization pathways. Technologically, the sheer scale of China's solar, wind, and electric vehicle industries has dramatically lowered global costs, accelerating adoption worldwide. In terms of global norms, China has become an increasingly influential voice in multilateral negotiations since the Paris Agreement, advocating for cooperative mechanisms that prioritize the needs of the developing world.

In summary, China's climate story is a vast and complex governance laboratory, complete with ongoing experiments and invaluable lessons. By integrating central directives, market experiments, and international partnerships, China has forged a multi-layered system for tackling climate change. 

As the world moves forward from the 2025 summit, the moment calls for all nations to, in the words of President Xi, "stay focused on the right direction, remain unwavering in confidence, unremitting in actions, and unrelenting in intensity." For developing nations, China provides a reference point for policy choices; for developed nations, it's an open invitation to collaborate on refining multilateral rules and accelerating technology diffusion.