At the recent APEC Business Leaders ChinaForum 2022, the APEC China Business Council and the International CooperationCenter of the National Development and Reform Commission jointly released theSustainable China Industrial Development Initiative 2022 Annual Report"Beyond Net Zero Carbon" (hereinafter referred to as "theReport"). ("Report"). The report shows that, driven by China,the installed cost of global solar photovoltaic (PV) will drop by about 82% in2021 compared to 2010, while the installed cost of onshore wind turbines andoffshore wind power will drop by about 35% and 41% respectively, and the costof power generation will also drop significantly.

Data show that in the decade from 2010 to2020, solar photovoltaic power generation increased nearly 25 times, and windpower generation increased nearly four times. "None of this could havebeen possible without China's technological breakthroughs in wind and solar PVand the construction of the industrial chain, which played a key role in thedramatic decline in the installed cost of solar and wind power and the cost ofpower generation worldwide." According to the report, in the new energystructure dominated by hydro, wind and solar energy, the development of hydropower generation may be about to top out, and the future development of windand solar PV still has unlimited potential.

China has become the world's second-largestenergy R&D spender with over $8 billion in R&D investment in 2020, withthe main focus areas being fossil combustion and renewable energy-relatedlow-carbon technologies. In terms of R&D achievements, China'sinternational patents have been proliferating since 2008. By 2020, the numberof international patents obtained by China in the field of renewable energytechnologies has exceeded 75%, and the current research in the field ofrenewable energy is mainly focused on three aspects: batteries, solarphotovoltaic and electric vehicles and charging, and the cumulative number ofpatents for the three exceeds 50% of the total number in the world.

Zero carbon energy transition especially inthe early stage requires huge capital investment, China proposed to achievecarbon neutrality in 2060, according to estimates of the average annual carbonneutral capital needs is 3 trillion - 5 trillion yuan. However, according tothe report, the annual investment in energy fixed assets during the 13th Five-YearPlan period has exceeded 3 trillion yuan, indicating that there is no seriousshortage of funds, and zero-carbon funds have a large market potential andscale.

The report points out that globaldevelopment has shifted from a "high-carbon energy low-carbonchannel" to a "zero-carbon energy channel", and the replacementof the track will bring not only carbon neutrality, but also economic growth,employment growth, energy security, environmental improvement and well-beingenhancement. The change of track will not only bring about carbon neutrality,but also economic growth, job creation, energy security, environmentalimprovement, and welfare enhancement, which will lead to a win-win situationfor all goals, and achieve a sustainable development beyond "net zerocarbon".