China's progress in meeting climate goals highlighted

China has made remarkable progress on the way to achieving its ambitious climate targets, making use of policy tools and market mechanisms, a high-ranking government official said ahead of the third anniversary of the announcement of the nation's dual carbon goal, which falls on Friday.

On Sept 22, 2020, when addressing the general debate of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly via video link, President Xi Jinping announced that China aims to reach its carbon emission peak before the end of this decade and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.

In an exclusive interview with China Daily, Lu Xinming, deputy head for climate change at the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said that last year, the country experienced a consistent decline in its carbon intensity, or carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP. The installed capacity of renewable power generation exceeded 1.2 billion kilowatts, he said.