Introduction

The sheer size of China's energy economy makes it an extremely important topic. Since 2009, China has surpassed the United States as the world's largest energy consumer. The historical trajectories of developed economies consistently show that in the early stages of economic development, the increases of per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) were always accompanied by the increases of per capita energy consumption. Because energy use is the most dominant source of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, the trajectories of CO₂ emissions are highly correlated with those of energy consumption. China is far more dependent on coal than the rest of the world. Despite its very rapid development of renewable energy in recent years, non-hydro renewable energy contributed only 2" of China's primary energy consumption in 2015. The political system in China is dramatically different from those in the developed countries. As a result, its energy governance also differs greatly.