China’s solar energy capacity increased by well over a thousand-fold from 2000 to 2026. A useful anchor is that China had about 1,232 GW of solar power by the end of February 2026, after adding 315 GW in 2025 alone.

What that means

In practical terms, China went from having only a tiny solar base in 2000 to becoming the world’s largest solar market by 2026. The exact 2000 figure is not provided in the available source snippets, so I can’t give a precise multiplication factor from this evidence alone.

Recent pace

The growth was especially explosive in the 2020s. By early 2026, solar was part of a combined wind-and-solar total of about 1,883 GW , and solar alone accounted for 1,232 GW of that total.

In one line

So the simplest answer is: China’s solar capacity rose from very small levels in 2000 to roughly 1.23 terawatts by 2026, meaning an increase of more than 1,000 times.

TL;DR: Massive growth, from almost nothing in 2000 to about 1.232 TW in 2026.