Assessing China's energy transition pathway: Insights from the synergistic effects of key drivers

China's energy transition is a pivotal component of global efforts to combat climate change. This study identifies the synergistic effects of key factors driving this transition, including social-technology-economic, policy, investment, governance indicators. Asymmetric nexus impacts are explored by using quantile-on-quantile regression (QQR) method. Further, the synergistic effects of key drivers on China's energy transition are examined by model 1–4. The findings show that reconciling the tradeoffs of reducing coal emissions and promoting clean energy are crucial for China's energy transition. Urban growth, environmental taxes, financial development, and strong environmental governance and institutional quality significantly support these efforts, but show different synergistic effects scenarios. These findings also reinforce the need for a more inclusive response to China's energy sustainability challenges, in particular, coordinated policies and strategies in coal-reliant industrial sectors are critical for a successful energy transition. • QQR results demonstrate how the quantiles of key drivers influence the quantiles of China's energy transition. • China's energy transition hinges on reducing coal emissions and accelerating the adoption of clean energy. • Identifies the impetus for China's clean energy transition by exploring different synergistic effects.