This photo taken on July 18, 2023 shows a production line at a workshop of the manufacturing base of Jiangling Motors Co., Ltd. in Nanchang City, east China’s Jiangxi Province. (Xinhua/Zhou Mi)
NANCHANG, March 31 (Xinhua) — Stepping into the production workshop of WG Tech, an optoelectronic company in Xinyu City, east China’s Jiangxi Province, the first thing that caught the eye was slender glass substrates silently gliding along the conveyor belt.
Technicians were intently monitoring the inspection screens, which displayed the thickness, flatness, and light transmittance of each glass substrate. The thickness error must not exceed one-hundredth of a hair’s width.
The glass substrates coming off this production line would eventually be used in the displays of smartphones, tablets, and even new energy vehicles.
In recent years, WG Tech has delved deeply into cutting-edge glass substrate technology, investing nearly 2 billion yuan (about 288.9 million U.S. dollars) in the research and development of Mini LED backlight technology. Today, one out of every three Mini LED backlight glasses worldwide is produced here.
What’s even more remarkable is that through digital and intelligent innovation, the energy consumption per unit of product has dropped by 37.5 percent.
“In the past, when we talked about upgrading the manufacturing industry, we mainly focused on automation and digitization,” said Yi Weihua, chairman of WG Tech, as he stood in the workshop, his gaze passing through rows of intelligent equipment. “Now, ‘greenization’ has become the third driving force alongside them.”
From the clear deployment in this year’s government work report on accelerating the comprehensive green transition to the rigid target set in the “15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030)” outline of reducing carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 17 percent, and from the full shift to dual control over the total amount and intensity of carbon emissions to promoting the transformation of green industries, China is making green and low-carbon transition a new engine for high-quality development.
In the stamping workshop of Jiangling Motors Co., Ltd. in Nanchang City, capital of Jiangxi, the large screens of the intelligent monitoring system display real-time energy consumption data for every mold closure and stamping operation.
Liu Hui, a chief technician at Jiangling Motors, explained that workers no longer focus solely on how many parts are produced but are also well informed about the “carbon footprint” of each part.
“Green development has become a core element of a company’s competitiveness,” Liu said. In the past, when changing molds, veteran workers relied on their feel, while younger workers depended on experience, resulting in low efficiency. Now, green indicators are transmitted throughout the entire production chain. For example, battery suppliers are required to provide not only high-performance battery cells but also “carbon footprint reports” for the batteries.
Data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers show that in 2025, China’s automobile production and sales both exceeded 34 million vehicles, setting a new record. Among them, the production and sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) both surpassed 16 million vehicles, with NEVs accounting for over 50 percent of domestic new car sales.
Over the past five years, Jiangling’s NEV sales have soared from 10,000 to 123,600 vehicles, and its export volume has increased from 34,000 to 169,900 vehicles, with its proportion in total vehicle exports rising to over 30 percent.
“The experiences we have explored in zero-carbon factories, green power trading, and carbon footprint management are, in themselves, a kind of public good that can serve as a reference for other developing countries,” said Min Shuoyuan, deputy general manager of public affairs at Jinko Solar Co., Ltd. Every photovoltaic panel produced and exported by the company has a carbon trajectory, and every unit of green power used in production is traceable.
Currently, Jinko Solar has taken the lead in shipping over 320 GW of new-generation photovoltaic product modules, with a global market share of 15.5 percent. The traceability of production power stems from the hour-level green power consumption certificates customized by State Grid Jiangxi Electric Power Co., Ltd., which provide export enterprises with a green supply chain carbon footprint solution that is “traceable, verifiable, and credible.”
Chen Junzhi, deputy director of the energy research center at the economic and technological research institute of State Grid Jiangxi Electric Power Co., Ltd., said that with the vigorous development of China’s new energy vehicle industry, some Chinese companies now have traceable “digital IDs” for their production power, offering a clear, long-term, and predictable huge market for global capital and industrial chains.
During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period (2021-2025), China has built the world’s largest and fastest-growing renewable energy system, with the proportion of installed renewable energy capacity increasing from 40 percent to around 60 percent. Data released by the National Energy Administration shows that as of the end of 2025, China’s total installed renewable energy capacity reached 2.34 billion kilowatts.
China’s green transition is becoming a powerful engine for promoting high-quality development through systematic innovation, according to Carl Simon, a British lecturer at Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, who added that, especially in the field of NEVs, society is witnessing the efficient integration of technological breakthroughs, industrial collaboration, and market expansion.
With a complete industrial chain and continuous technological progress, China is lowering the threshold for the application of clean technologies and driving the low-carbon transition in the global transportation sector, Carl said.
Among the 20 main indicators for China’s economic and social development during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, eight are binding, including five green and low-carbon indicators.
Tian Xi, a professor at the School of Economics and Management of Nanchang University, said that from the systematic deployment of the comprehensive green transition in the “15th Five-Year Plan” outline to the clear implementation of dual control over the total amount and intensity of carbon emissions in 2026, this is a complete and institutionalized policy system. ■
This photo taken on July 12, 2025 shows the “intelligent mega-factory” of Jinko Solar Co., Ltd. in Shangrao City, east China’s Jiangxi Province. (Xinhua/Liu Jinhai)
A worker produces glass substrates at the production workshop of WG Tech, an optoelectronic company, in Xinyu City, east China’s Jiangxi Province, on March 5, 2026. (Photo by Ling Houxiang/Xinhua)
