The article refers to two issues within the semantic field of the concept of ‘wenming’ – i) civilising with Chinese characteristics and ii) relating to the subject of energy - CO2 production in China. One of the dimensions of the concept of ‘civilising’ and the importance of sustainable production and consumption issues in the context of the deepening environmental degradation outlined our goal, which is to present the relationship between the civilised and the sustainable with Chinese characteristics as well as to analyse the level of CO2 pollution. The effect of the above is an attempt to explore the Chinese perception of wenming and to identify regions which are closer to the idea of eco-civilisation. Three variables were adopted for the analysis: i) CO2 emissions, ii) population in a given region, and iii) GDP in a given region. The analysis distinguished four clusters - groups of regions emerging from the dendrogram. Clusters that were isolated using the Ward method can contribute to more precise solutions to fight CO2 emissions and conduct a more appropriate policy related to the possibilities and needs for the production of energy from renewable sources.