Clean energy including non-fossil energy and natural gas will replace coal as the primary energy source by 2030 and account for more than half of China's energy mix by around 2045, a leading economics think tank in China said on Wednesday.

By 2050, coal, non-fossil energy, and oil and gas will each take up one-third of China's energy mix, according to the CNPC Research Institute of Economics and Technology in its annual long-term energy outlook released on Wednesday.

According to Yang Hua, planning director of China National Petroleum Corp, the global energy mix is shifting toward a high-efficiency, clean and low-carbon direction, driven by technological improvements and environmental concerns.