China installed a record amount of renewable energy in 2024, data from the National Energy Administration (NEA) showed on Tuesday.

Beijing has committed to bring carbon emissions to a peak by 2030 and to net zero by 2060.

The nation added about 277 gigawatts (GW) of solar last year, an increase from the 217 GW added from the previous year, the NEA said in a statement. It also expanded its wind power by nearly 80 GW.

The total installed capacity of solar and wind power were around 887 GW and 521 GW respectively.

President Xi Jinping in 2020 set a target for at least 1,200 GW of solar and wind capacity installed by 2030.

China surpassed this target last year, almost six years earlier than planned, data from the NEA in August showed.

And it has built almost twice as much wind and solar capacity as every other country combined, according to research published in July.

Beijing invested over US$50 billion in new solar supply capacity from 2011 to 2022, according to the International Energy Agency.

The solar industry has also benefited from access to cheap raw materials, readily available capital from state-owned banks, and huge engineering manpower. (AFP)