Shanxi in north China has long been an energy powerhouse. And this week, the province is playing host to hundreds of energy companies, government officials, and industry experts from around the world in its capital Taiyuan. It's all part of an International Energy Expo that kicked off Sunday, focused on energy transformation and innovation. Our reporter Hu Chao takes a look.

The 2018 China International Energy Industry Expo opened in Taiyuan on Sunday. Nearly 300 companies and institutions from 30 countries and regions are attending the 3-day event. Products and technologies showcased at the expo are featuring new and smart energy.

HU CHAO TAIYUAN, SHANXI PROVINCE "An international low carbon forum is being held here during the expo. The forum is exploring the future trends of energy development around the world, and issues of combating climate change and how to achieve sustainable development."

David Turk works with the International Energy Agency based in Paris. He delivered a speech on the future trends of global energy supply and consumption. He says China's switch to a new economic model and a cleaner energy mix is driving global trends.

DAVID TURK, ACTING DIRECTOR SUSTAINABILITY, TECHNOLOGY & OUTLOOKS DIRECTORATE INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY "In the future, we'll see a very significant Chinese component to the low carbon energy development, the renewable generation. We've already seen with China being a leader on solar PV, in wind, other renewable technologies. China really is by its nature, its size and manufacturing capacity, it's a very robotic economic development, a significant driver in global energy trends."

Turk says the energy transformation in China and around the world is creating new and massive markets for low carbon and renewable energy technologies. But challenges still remain.

DAVID TURK, ACTING DIRECTOR SUSTAINABILITY, TECHNOLOGY & OUTLOOKS DIRECTORATE INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY "The biggest challenge is the scale and scope of the transformation. China is responsible for 50% of the new electric vehicles that are coming in the market all across the world. Those are huge numbers. But we find electric vehicles are still about 1% of overall automobiles sold in the world. So even though we've seen very significant increases, including in China, it's still a quite small number. It needs to significantly increase in order to really be a fundamental driver."

Hu Chao, CGTN, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province.