III Executive summary
Research background 1
Global climate change calls for low-carbon cities 2
Evaluating global, urban low-carbon development to guide Chinese cities 3
Research purpose and scope 4
Methodology and data 7
    Selection of cities 8
    Analysis method 9
    Data sources 14 
    Research limitations 14
Evaluation results 17
    Chinese cities have made significant progress in low-carbon development 21
    Chinese cities perform better in lowcarbon consumption 21
    Low-carbon pioneer cities are mostly located in the temperate and cold temperate zones 25
    The overall low-carbon performance of service-oriented cities is even better 26
Case studies 29
    Megacities, represented by Shanghai, should increase lowcarbon investment in production and consumption, and play a leading role 31
    Service-oriented cities, represented by Guilin, should upgrade and optimize their industrial structures based on local resource endowments, and find a proper lowcarbon economic model 32
    Industrial cities, represented by Tangshan, should leverage the economic upside cycle to achieve a green industrial transition 35
    Agricultural cities, represented by Wuwei, should actively promote the development of the tertiary industry while deepening the industrial chain of the primary industry 36
Conclusion and recommendations 41
    Green, low-carbon, and high-quality development should be promoted in megacities in three areas: urban planning, industrial structure, and energy structure 42
    Service-oriented cities should customize climate action goals and plans, and build appropriate lowcarbon economic models, to achieve high-quality and low-carbon growth 44
    Industrial cities can make the “two high” industries greener through digital technology, and invest more in talent and capacity building to promote the green transition 45
    Agricultural cities can integrate rural resource advantages, optimize the structure of the primary industry, and vigorously develop the tertiary industry for low-carbon development 47

Endnotes 48
References 49
Acknowledgments 51
About the authors 52
About WRI 53
About CAEP 53