Stay informed of free updates
Just register at Climate change Myft Digest – Delivered directly in your reception box.
China has quickly increased sales of solar panels, batteries and other green energy technologies for emerging markets long before the American tariff fight, the last shows, with expectations that it will increase more in its hunt for buyers.
Emerging markets represented 43% of Chinese exports in clean technology in 2024, compared to 24% in 2022, as a sign of the way in which the manufacturing power is looking for new markets, according to new Bloombergnef figures, the data supplier.
The drop in prices has made Green Energy products more affordable in developing countries.
The emphasis on China on exports to emerging markets would intensify on the back of the “extreme levels of prices” of the United States – now 145% for Chinese goods – as well as the growth of the EU trade barriers and elsewhere, said Antoine Vagneur -Jones, head of commerce and supply chains in BNEF.
“We do not think that we have reached the levels of penetration everywhere, the export volumes (towards the emerging markets) that we could see“” He added.
The data follows a speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping at an unconted virtual meeting of world leaders this week, when he said that “whatever the international situation changes, China will not slow down its efforts to resolve climate change”.
Countries should “stimulate technological innovation and industrial transformation through cooperation and facilitate the free flow of quality technologies and green products, so that they can be accessible, affordable and beneficial for all countries, in particular those in development,” said XI.
The Chinese chief committed his country to an improved climate target at the time of the next UN climate summit this year, covering all sectors and emissions of greenhouse gases, without giving more details.
“Since I announced the objectives of China for carbon peak and carbon neutrality five years ago, we have built the largest and fastest renewable energy system in the world as well as the largest and most complete new energy chain,” he said.
The comments came in the midst of concerns that a trade war could hinder efforts to reduce emissions. Ana Toni, director general of the UN COP30 climate summit to be held in Brazil this year, recently said that a trade war was going to reach global capacity to combat temperatures increase by limiting access to technology.
But the increase in sales of Chinese products in emerging markets could also be beneficial for global efforts to combat climate change, said Vagneur-Jones.
The rapid passage of China in emerging markets has contributed to driving a solar boom in countries hungry for energy such as Pakistan and Lebanon, as well as the development of wind on the ground in Uzbekistan and electric vehicles in Brazil, he added.
Last year, the value of global imports of clean energy decreased for the first time, down 7% to 409 billion dollars, mainly driven by the drop in prices for solar technology and batteries, said BNEF. Vagonneur-Jones said that this drop in value was despite the overall volumes remaining stable or increasing for various technologies.
BNEF noted that more than three -quarters of all new investments worldwide in the manufacture of green technologies were in China last year.
While President Donald Trump argued that American prices would help bring to land manufacturing, overcapacity in China lowered world prices for green technology and made more difficult for other countries to develop their own supply chains, said Vagneur-Jones.
This excess offer would continue for years, predicted BNEF, with its forecasts adjusted to the risk noting that the supply will exceed demand up to at least 2027, in particular in solar and battery manufacturing.
“It will be a double -edged sword. “And then the bad news is that it makes it extremely difficult to do all of this (by other governments).”
Climate capital
Where climate change meets business, markets and politics. Explore the FT coverage here.
Are you curious to know the commitments of the environmental sustainability of the FT? Learn more about our scientific targets here
