China News Service, Antalya, Turkey, November 14 (Reporters Wei Yuan and Chen Su) The 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is being held in Antalya, Turkey. When accepting questions from China News Agency reporters at the COP31 press conference, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres affirmed China’s tremendous efforts and progress in the field of renewable energy and called on all countries to implement climate commitments.
This statement reflects a clear impression in the first half of COP31: when global climate governance has entered the critical stage of "promoting implementation" from "setting rules", China is promoting climate commitments to become reality with clearer goals, sustained policy actions, and emerging practical results.
China's commitments have clear target coordinates.
Huang Runqiu, Minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China, said at the COP31 China Corner "Ecological Civilization and Beautiful China Practice" themed side event on the 10th that China's announcement and implementation of the 2035 Nationally Determined Contribution has boosted the international community's confidence in global climate governance. "No matter how the international situation changes, China will always be an activist and doer in addressing climate change."
For the first time, China's 2035 Nationally Determined Contributions target covers the entire economy, including all greenhouse gases, and proposes absolute emission reduction targets; the Ecological Environment Code of the People's Republic of China, which was implemented in August this year, has a dedicated chapter to deal with climate change, providing legal support for the commitment.
China's actions are supported by data and practice.
The "2026 Annual Report on China's Policies and Actions to Address Climate Change" shows that in 2025, China's carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP will decrease by 5% compared with the previous year, the output value of green and low-carbon industries will be approximately 11 trillion yuan, and the production and sales of new energy vehicles will remain the first in the world for 11 consecutive years. As of June 2026, the cumulative trading volume of national carbon market quotas has exceeded 917 million tons.
The report cards of local practices are equally eye-catching: in Jingdezhen, the millennium porcelain capital, smart kilns have increased production efficiency by 80% and reduced unit energy consumption by 30%; Yancheng, Jiangsu has restored 20,000 hectares of carbon-rich coastal wetlands to retain tidal flats for endangered migratory birds; Hainan's clean energy installed capacity has reached 88%.
The "pragmatic" China has won praises from international people.
Solheim, former deputy secretary-general of the United Nations and executive director of UNEP, said in an interview, "China's achievements are amazing. Unless you see it with your own eyes, you can't even imagine it."
Simon Steele, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat, said that China's energy transformation achievements are "unique in the world." Fatih Birol, Director of the International Energy Agency, believes that China’s role in the field of clean energy is undisputed and that China has pointed the direction for the world. COP31 negotiation chairman Chris Bowen said that the "green dividend" brought by Chinese investment benefits the world, and the Chinese negotiating team's constructive attitude and pragmatic contact are admirable.
As of October 2026, China has signed 60 South-South cooperation documents on climate change with 46 developing countries.
"We are all in the same boat, but in different cabins." Wang Yi, a researcher at the Institute of Science and Technology Strategy Consulting of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and deputy director of the National Expert Committee on Climate Change, used this metaphor to call on all countries to take responsibility and cooperate to move forward. From commitment to action, from transforming itself to joining hands with the world, in the first half of the conference, China used multi-level practices to write a footnote to this metaphor of "being in the same boat".
