This Evidence Report investigates the changes in China’s wind and solar energy policies, and argues that since late 2012 a new policy paradigm has been taking shape within the Chinese renewable energy policy community due to a series of external and internal shocks.
These policy changes will, the research suggests, have a tremendous impact on how China is going to further develop its renewable energy sector. R enewable energy industries in China are at a critical crossroads and are moving towards a new era that contrasts sharply with the previous decade , which was characterised by the massive capacity expansion of wind and solar farms.
A number of emerging external and internal dynamics are affecting both policy priorities and process, which have consequently had a tremendous impact on the existing institu tional arrangement s and interest constellation s that have developed in the past decade. As these policy changes would ultimately affect China’s capability to fulfil its emissions reduction pledge at an international level, it is therefore crucial to understand both the deep causes of these changes and their implications for the future of China’s renewable energy industries.