China's using clean tech to shape global climate fight, growth

Beijing/Washington DC/London: China sent $132 billion in clean technology and investment to the developing world last year, by far the largest contribution to carbon-dioxide reduction of any country. In fact, the nation's green-manufacturing juggernaut, built in part through heavy subsidies from Beijing, nearly matches the current total of grants, loans and private finance that all wealthy countries sent to poorer ones in 2024 to help fight climate change, according to a Reuters analysis.The total included clean-tech exports and an estimated $40 billion in Chinese FDI in clean-tech projects in developing countries, based on data compiled by researchers at London School of Economics. It nearly matched the $137 billion in climate finance wealthy nations provided poorer countries in 2024 under UN pledges, according to OECD.The figures are not directly comparable. China's contribution comprises commercial clean-energy transactions, while climate finance also supports areas such as climate-resilient agriculture and recovery from disasters. Most global climate finance takes the form of loans, a 2024 Reuters investigation found.Reuters calculated Chinese clean-tech exports using customs data for countries OECD classifies as developing. Once deployed, last year's exports will help Global South avoid 257 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually, equal to France's yearly CO2 emissions, according to Lauri Myllyvirta, co-founder of Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. This year's exports are on track to avoid 337 MtCO2 there.China remains the world's biggest greenhouse-gas emitter because of its population, heavy industry and reliance on coal. However, subsidies that helped it dominate solar panels, batteries, electric vehicles and wind turbines have also made it a major force in cutting emissions.Li Shuo, head of China Climate Hub at Asia Society Policy Institute, said China's manufacturing boom offered another pathway beyond rich-country finance: lowering clean-technology prices through innovation and scale until developing countries adopt it for economic reasons. "You can align it to your economic agenda," he said. Beijing has shown little interest in turning commercial strength into diplomatic leadership since Trump withdrew the US from international climate cooperation in 2025.China's manufacturing scale has meanwhile made renewable energy cheaper across the developing world. Ethiopia banned combustion-engine car imports in 2024 largely to reduce its fuel import bill. Pakistan imported 17 GW of Chinese solar last year, roughly matching Germany's installations that year. Nearly two-thirds of China's solar-panel exports and the cells used to make them went to developing countries. ReutersYou use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.