The Effect of Chinese Green Transformation on Competitiveness and the Environment

Introduction

After the implementation of reforms and opening up in 1978, China achieved rapid economic development, but this development also consumed a lot of energy. In 2009, China became the world's largest energy consumer (Wang, 2010). Energy consumption is closely correlated with environmental pollution. The more energy consumed, the more pollution generated. Over the years, economic growth has made the environmental situation worse and worse (Xiong & Xu, 2020). Zhang and Vigne (2021) noted that developing countries, especially China, have experienced rapid economic development along with serious environmental damage.

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With the increasing frequency of severe weather conditions, more and more countries, in addition to China, have realized the importance of the environment, striving to promote sustainable economic development. In the process of achieving this goal, countries need to strike a balance between reducing emissions and promoting economic development. In 2016, the People’s Bank of China took the lead in issuing the “Guiding Opinions on Building a Green Financial System.” They clearly stated that green finance supports environmental improvement, responds to climate change, saves resources, increases energy efficiency, and provides financial services for project investment, project operation, and risk management in the fields of green transportation and green buildings. Thus, green finance contributes to the sustainable development of China.

This chapter introduces the development status of green buildings, clean energy and green transportation in the context of Chinese promotion of green development. According to the “China Building Energy Research Report (2020),” the total energy consumption of construction in 2018 was the equivalent of 2.147 billion tons of coal. This accounted for 46.5% of the total national energy consumption. The total carbon emission from all construction was 4.93 billion tons of carbon dioxide, accounting for 51.3% of national carbon emissions. The energy consumption and carbon emissions of China's construction industry are huge, meaning the possibilities for green transformation are as well.