World applauds how 'cool' China is, even in summer

While regions across the globe have been struck by record heat waves, leading to spikes in electricity prices, power outages and a scramble for air conditioners, Chinese households have long taken air conditioning for granted. On social networking sites abroad, the humorous refrain — "come to China for a summer retreat" — hints at a deeper truth. Behind the air-conditioned relief lies a power network built from nothing, a manufacturing sector that has risen from import dependence to global preeminence, and a development philosophy that leaves no one behind.

In 1949, China generated 1/68 of the power that the United States did. Eighty percent of Chinese citizens lived without electricity; all power-generating equipment was imported. However, by May 2026, installed capacity had reached 4.01 billion kilowatts — the world's largest, surpassing the combined total of the US, Europe, India, Japan and Russia. Scale aside, China has leaped technologically. In 2010, the world's first plus-minus 800 kV ultrahigh-voltage direct current line — Yunguang — went live. Until then, plus-minus 500 kV was the ceiling; plus-minus 800 kV had no precedent, and every component was homegrown. Today, China commands all six core DC transmission technologies. In 2020, Kunliulong, the world's first plus-minus 800 kV multiterminal flexible DC project, set 19 world records.

Most crucially, power now reaches every citizen in China. In December 2015, when the last two remaining villages were switched on, China became the first developing country to achieve universal access to electricity. Rural grids are now highly reliable; blackouts in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area have been cut to minutes. Electricity access has evolved from universal availability to high-quality, reliable service — closing the urban-rural divide and lighting remote mountains.