Apparently part of the issue is that the Chinese grid is very badly managed.

They can build physical grid connections much more easily than we can manage (for the usual values of “we”), but they manage interprovincial transmission according to fixed schedules rather than responding to demand.

Also critically they don’t have to build these coal plant to be economically used in the same way as free market states do. They’re building them mostly as a hedge - if they end up barely used , which is likely given renewable trends, that’s ok for state owned power. It makes everything a bit more expensive, but you can’t exactly vote for an alternative.

If they need to get used a lot for whatever reason, no one is unhappy either, you avoid shortages and discontent.

Whereas coal stopped being built in market economies roughly as soon as it became uneconomical.

> That’s misleading because they are idling their existing coal power plants more often. Essentially they are using new coal as demand following peaker plants rather than base load power generation. “In the first decade of the 2000s, plants were running around 70% of the time. They're now running around 50%.

That doesn't sound all that misleading then? If they've installed 20 times more coal generating capacity than the rest of the world and are operating it 50% of the time then they're still adding 10 times more emissions than the rest of the world combined, and that's assuming the rest of the world will all be operating their coal-fired power plants fully 100% of the time.

> By comparison China added 217 GW of PV in 2023 alone which came online over the year.

217 GW of nameplate capacity or of average generation? These are very different numbers for solar because of the low capacity factor.

Also China's population are moving from the frozen north to the warm south, construction standards are increasing (better insulation), cooking is being outsourced (fewer kitchens), and they lead the world in mass transit / ride hailing / vehicle sharing / portable e-vehicle (scooter/wheel types). China has possibly reached peak personal vehicle. Local governments frequently spray water along main roads to bring down air pollution levels - surprisingly effective for PM2.5 - and most cities are pushing industrial land use far out of town.