CO(2) emissions of the electricity supply sector in China account for about half of the total volume in the country. Thus, reducing CO(2) emissions in China's electricity supply sector will contribute significantly to the efforts of greenhouse gas (GHG) control in the country and the rest of the world. This paper introduces the development status of renewable energy and other main CO(2) mitigation options in power generation in China and makes a preliminary prediction of the development of renewable energy in the country for future decades. Besides, based on the situation in China, the paper undertakes a comprehensive analysis of CO(2) mitigation costs, mitigation potential, and fossil energy conversation capacity of renewable energy and other mitigation options, through which the influence of renewable energy on the mitigation strategy of China is analyzed. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.