In March 2023, Renmin University of China and Tsinghua University, with the support of Energy Foundation China, jointly completed two research projects that predict China’s population structure in the future, people’s consumption behavior, and consumption’s carbon emission implications. Their findings were released in these two reports.

Matching with China’s population distribution data, the first report predicts the population’s income structure and age structure, while the second report analyzes the relationship between population structure characteristics and consumption behavior and carbon implications, based on a demand analysis of the three major sectors of buildings, transportation, and industry. Together, they lay a foundation for developing a science-based carbon-neutral pathway for China, against the backdrop of a long-term population trajectory that is influenced by factors such as continued urbanization, an aging society, and China’s common prosperity aspirations.