Energy Secretary to hold three days of meetings in Beijing which has seen resurgence of fossil fuel power plants

Ed Miliband will travel to China on Friday for talks about the shift to green energy – but won’t mention Beijing’s coal. The Telegraph has the story.

The Energy Secretary will hold three days of meetings with Chinese officials to discuss climate change and the transition to net zero.

But The Telegraph understands that he will not directly address the reluctance of the world’s biggest polluter to commit to a hard deadline to phase out coal.

Beijing has seen a resurgence in the construction of new coal-fired power plants, reaching record levels last year.

Meanwhile, the UK closed its last coal power plant in September 2024, followed swiftly by a ban on new coal mines by Mr Miliband as a “signal to the world” of the Government’s green ambitions.

Mr Miliband will be the third Cabinet minister after Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, and David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, to visit Beijing amid efforts by Labour ministers to establish better relations with the world’s second-biggest economy.

The energy secretary will meet with vice premier Ding Xuexiang, China’s climate envoy, to discuss cooperation in the lead up to this year’s Cop30 climate summit in Brazil, The Telegraph understands.

The full story here.