BizChina

China has become a leader in the global development of new energy, owing to rapid growth of new energies, improved industrialized level, and decreased costs for generating new energies, Economic Daily reported on Jan. 5.

China’s installed generating capacity reached 1.77 billion kilowatts by 2017, among which non-fossil energy’s capacity reached 38.1 percent, up 9.6 percent since 2012, according to China’s National Energy Administration (NEA).

Renewable energies also increased remarkably, according to NEA. For example, China’s PV installed capacity saw a year-on-year increase of 65.4 percent to hit 120 million kilowatts by late September 2017.

Meanwhile, the utilization level of new energies increased. Energy generated by renewable energies amounted to 1.17 trillion kilowatts in the first three quarters of last year. Wind power, solar energy, and biomass energy rose by 26 percent, 70 percent, and 25 percent on a year-on year basis, respectively.

Also, the costs for generating energies decreased, as China is now able to produce solar photovoltaic power generation equipment itself, said Wang Bohua, secretary-general of the China Photovoltaic Industry Association.

In addition, the wind power curtailment and solar power curtailment was estimated to respectively drop by 6.7 percent and 3.8 percent in 2017 compared with the previous year thanks to favorable policies and measures, NEA said.

Sun Qiang, a director at China Three Gorges Corporation, also said that China will take advantage of its natural advantages and focus on developing offshore wind power in the future.

China plans to spend 732 billion yuan ($112.7 billion) on railway projects in 2018 to continue building its world-leading rail system, said Lu Dongfu, general manager of China Railway Corp, the nation's railway operator, on Tuesday.

Some 4,000 kilometers of new tracks are planned to be put into operation in the coming year, and 87.5 percent or 3,500 km will be high-speed railway tracks, Lu said during the company's annual meeting. 

China's first guideline on road tests of autonomous motor vehicles was released on Monday by local authorities in Beijing, signaling the country's determination to accelerate the development of the technology.

The guideline, compiled by the city's transport commission, public security bureau and economy and information technology commission, applies to independent entities registered in China.

Sales on Alibaba's platforms broke last year's total with almost 11 hours of the Singles Day shopping gala to spare.

Gross merchandise volume of the day-long discount topped 120.7 billion yuan ($18.2 billion) as of 1:09 pm Saturday, according to Alibaba's data. This is equivalent to the value of all transactions processed via its Tmall, Taobao and other sister sites a year ago.