“Reading” China’s Economic Development Through Energy Indexes

Abstract

This paper systematically analyzes the logic between China’s energy transition and economic development by constructing a quantitative analytical framework. The study introduces three core indexes—the Energy Consumption Growth Index, which measures gross domestic product (GDP) reliance on total energy scale; the Renewable Energy Contribution Index, which evaluates structural and qualitative improvements; and the Green Electricity Economic Contribution Index, which estimate the conversion of green efficiency into economic value—to dynamically assess the energy consumption characteristics of economic growth and the progress of green transition from a " volume–structure–efficiency" tripartite perspective. The research shows that China’s energy system has entered a positive synergy phase in which renewable energy dominates incremental growth and green power drives high-quality economic development.