China doubles 2020 solar target

China has more than doubled its target for solar power capacity to 50 gigawatts by 2020, according to Chinese state-run media reports, amid rising prices for energy commodities like coal and oil and new doubts about the safety of nuclear power in the wake of the Japanese earthquake.

China, which is poised to become the world's largest economy by the next decade, expects to reach 10 gigawatts of solar energy capacity by 2015.

China will spend hundreds of billions of dollars to meet a goal of generating 15 of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.