According to the state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), China could reduce its coal use to 44% of energy consumption by 2030 and to 8% by 2060, as the country is increasingly turning to gas to meet its climate targets. Consequently, the share of natural gas China's primary energy mix is expected to reach 12% in 2030. According to CNPC, coal would account for 44% of China’s energy mix by 2030, followed by non-fossil fuels (26%), petroleum (18%), and natural gas (12%). In 2060, China’s energy mix would be dominated by non-fossil fuels (75%), followed by natural gas (11%), coal (8%) and petroleum (6%).
In 2020, coal (including lignite) still dominated the energy mix with 59%, but its share is decreasing rapidly (down from over 70% in 2010). It is followed by oil (20%), primary electricity (hydro, wind, solar and nuclear) (9%), natural gas (8%), and biomass (3%). In 2020, energy consumption continued to increase, despite the COVID-19 outbreak, but at a slower rate of 2.2%. Total energy consumption has been growing slightly faster since 2017 (3.3%/year compared to 1.7%/year over 2012-2017).