London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019. xvii, 339 pp. (Illustrations.) US$89.99, cloth. ISBN 978-981-13-3491-7.
On account of its vast territory, large population, and huge economic volume, China has always been a major player in the energy arena, and a nearly predominant actor in climate change mitigation in the twenty-first century. In tackling the global challenges of climate change, China is deemed a “champion” (see Anita Engels, “Understanding How China Is Championing Climate Change Mitigation,” Palgrave Communications, 101, no. 4 [2018], 6). In 2021, a national action plan was officially put forward, followed by a series of policies and stipulations, aimed at carbon peaks by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. “Accelerating green and low-carbon development” was also incorporated into the 14th Five-Year Plan. China as a Global Clean Energy Champion: Lifting the Veil adds an interesting and important set of insights into Chinese policy guidelines, practical means, advantages, and limitations for the successful development of clean energy.
Academics and policy specialists have long been concerned with the topic of energy transition, from theoretical perspectives of societal participation, democratic processes, or even discourse studies. Most of them, however, place insufficient weight on two key factors: power and institutions. The main contribution of this book lies in its broad research scope and theoretical methods, relying on concepts from public policy to examine the institutional logic. The significance of China’s top-down macro-control deployment is to some extent revealed.
As the authors put it, one of the aims of this book is to uncover the reasons behind these Chinese achievements. The national governance system can be taken as the determining factor in its low carbon transition progress. The Chinese government has made a series of efforts to advance energy efficiency, as well as promote renewable and nuclear energy. This book summarizes some aspects of energy governance that may help or limit the development of clean energy and a low-carbon economy. A key conclusion that will be of particular interest to scholars of environmental policy or Chinese studies is as follows. The success of China, to some degree, depends on three types of capital allocation: political capital arranged by state leaders to develop a strategic vision, deployed in a centralized way, and implemented fast; various forms of financial capital supplied by governments and banks; and human capital mainly comprised of entrepreneurial, skilled, and dynamic workers in companies involved in different energy sectors (12).
The book is organized into eleven chapters. Chapter 2 shows in detail why China can be considered a global clean energy champion. On the one hand, from a historical angle, the main trends are analyzed, including changes to economic structure, energy intensity, infrastructure, and carbon footprints since 1990. On the other hand, the authors extract main points from the 13th Five-Year Plan, the Made in China 2025, and the Energy Revolution Strategy (2016–2030). The future vision of China’s energy transition is explained. Chapter 3 introduces three levels of theoretical explanation: socio-technical transitions, neo-institutionalism, and public policy. Chapter 4 outlines modern Chinese governance, which originated from Marxism and Mao Zedong Thought, developing over the past 70 years since 1949.
Chapter 5 takes electricity as an example of how continuous plans and policies have allowed China to develop one of the largest renewable-electricity-generating capacities in the world. Chapter 6 looks into the overseas development of low-carbon energy, which is underpinned by the following institutional background: the model of export-oriented economic growth, the “going global” strategy, strategic emerging-industry policies, and the Belt and Road Initiative. Chapters 7 through 10, address, from the perspective of practice, the Chinese government’s adjustment of its energy structure using traditional policy tools, its increase of energy efficiency, and its coordination of the water-energy-food supply chain. The progress of pilot projects and market prospects nationwide are also described.
China as a Global Clean Energy Champion: Lifting the Veil is a thorough and detailed account of the factors that have enabled China to achieve its successes in energy transition. All in all, the research is relatively objective. It does not make exact predictions for institutional reform, future policy, or technological developments, nor do the authors assess which aspects might succeed or fail. Concerning the selection of research subjects, this book covers many kinds of clean energy. There is a wide range of data collected from the China Electricity Council, the National Bureau of Statistics, the International Energy Agency and so on, covering the years from 1978 to 2018. The process of research embraces both theoretical explanation and empirical analysis. In addition, the authors provide a more objective and fair interpretation of academic comments on the “authoritarianism” of the Chinese political system.
There remain some limitations to this book. For starters, its purpose is to demonstrate the significance of analyzing low-carbon energy transition in any country through the concept of institutions, yet China is the only research subject (7). But due to the special state system of China, it would seem less reproducible in other countries. Thus, whether the research paradigm is applicable as a guide for most other countries seems uncertain. Second, as to the background analysis, it is somewhat simplistic in regard to explaining the international situation. Last but not least, factors of Chinese traditional culture also contribute to the success of energy transition. Cultural information might be included to explain how the energy transition policy and practice have worked well.
As already mentioned, this study delves closely into Chinese energy governance as it relates to political economy (266). It provides a rare peek at what is going on behind the scenes of Chinese energy transition. Aside from area scholars, it is also widely accessible to non-specialist readers, and does a great job of writing to a broader audience. Readers will have a better understanding of China and its energy transition, and of its thoughts and practices concerning ecological civilization and mankind’s shared destiny.
Xiao Wang
China University of Petroleum (Beijing), Beijing
Xiufeng Zhao
China University of Petroleum (Beijing), Beijing