Evaluation of China’s policy for wind power development from the new structural economics perspective

The Chinese energy transition, as a shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, involves the dynamic growth of wind power’s importance in a national energy mix. The development of the wind power industry in this country is intertwined with the implemented policies that translated to the significant increase in energy generation from this power source and the growth of trade volumes of wind power products. This research aims to review and analyse the China's policy that impacted wind power development in 2000-2019. The author aims to evaluate the efficiency of implemented policies and strategies from the perspective of the new structural economics assumptions and the revealed comparative advantage of the Chinese wind energy products. In addition to the review of scientific literature and policy documents, as well as analysis of the relevant trade and energy indicators, the method applied in this research is a calculation of the Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) index. The results provide pieces of evidence that despite the substantial development of the Chinese wind power industry on a national scale, this country still has not revealed a comparative advantage globally. However, the results also suggest that the Chinese wind power industry is on the right track to achieve export specialisation soon. Furthermore, the China's policy for wind power development matches the new structural economics assumptions. The presented insight into studied industry blazes the trail for other countries, which consider following the Chinese development path by shaping the growth of leading-edge industries and the energy transition process throughout various state interventions.

中国的能源转型——即从化石燃料向可再生能源的转变——涉及风能在国家能源结构中重要性的动态提升。中国风电产业的发展与已实施的政策紧密交织，这些政策促成了风电发电量的显著增长以及风电产品贸易量的扩大。本研究旨在回顾与分析2000-2019年间影响中国风电发展的相关政策。作者旨在基于新结构经济学的假设，结合中国风电产品的显示性比较优势，评估已实施政策与战略的效率。除了梳理科学文献与政策文件、分析相关贸易及能源指标外，本研究采用的方法还包括计算显示性比较优势（Revealed Comparative Advantage, RCA）指数。研究结果表明，尽管中国风电产业在国内已取得显著发展，但在全球范围内尚未展现出比较优势。然而，结果亦显示中国风电产业正朝着实现出口专业化的方向稳步迈进。此外，中国风电发展政策与新结构经济学的假设相契合。本研究对该产业的洞见，为那些考虑通过各类国家干预措施推动前沿产业发展与能源转型、进而效仿中国发展路径的国家提供了借鉴。