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It has invested heavily in homegrown tech, from renewables to chips to AI.

China has dominated the renewables market and produces much of the world's supply of polysilicon, a key component in solar panels.

Asked how difficult it would be for the government to increase its use of renewables without buying solar panels from Chinese companies potentially exposed to slave labour, Mr de Pulford said: "It's going to require a transition because China has such a dominance of the production of polysilicon and nearly 40% of that comes from Xinjiang and is connected in some way to these labour transfer schemes, so we're going to have to diversify."

Renewables have been growing quickly, but are slightly off track to meet that promise, the International Energy Agency said in October.

This is similar to a pledge agreed at the COP28 global climate conference in 2023 to triple the capacity of renewables by 2030.