China Invests More in Solar and Wind Than Coal Overseas for the First Time: Report

An
employee
works
on
the
production
line
of
export-bound
solar
panels
at
a
5G
intelligent
workshop
of
Jiangsu
Dongci
New
Energy
Technology
Co.,
Ltd.
in
Suqian,
Jiangsu
Province
of
China
on
Sept.
11,
2024.
VCG
/
VCG
via
Getty
Images

Nearly
70
percent
of

China’s
foreign
power
investments
from
2022
to
2023
were
in

renewables
like

solar
and
wind,
surpassing

fossil
fuels
for
the
first
time
since
Beijing
started
backing
power
projects
overseas
in
the
early
2000s,
according
to
a
new
analysis
from
the

Global
Development
Policy
(GDP)
Center
at
Boston
University
(BU).

The
shift
highlights
China’s
increasing
dominance
in

green
energy
technologies
and
the

supply
chains
of

critical
minerals
and

metals
that
support
them,
reported
Inside
Climate
News.

China’s
overseas
energy
investments
hit
a
record,
with
wind
and
solar
making
up
the
majority
of
spending
for
the
first
time.

[image
or
embed]

—
Inside
Climate
News
(@insideclimatenews.org)

May
26,
2025
at
1:11
PM

“In
September
2021,
Chinese
leader
Xi
Jinping
pledged
that
China
would
stop
financing
new
overseas

coal-fired
power
plants
and
instead
pledged
to
ramp
up
support
for
renewable
energy
projects,”
a
new
policy
brief
by
researchers
from
the
BU
GDP
Center
said.
“This
announcement
marked
an
important
shift
in
China’s
global
energy
policy,
with
potential
to
fill
the
glaring
gaps
in
the
financing
necessary
for
the
energy
transition
in
developing
countries.”

The
brief
—

No
New
Coal
A
Shift
in
the
Composition
of
China’
s
Overseas
Power
Plant
Portfolio?
—
evaluates
the
implementation
of
the
country’s

2021
pledge
and
offers
a
historical
and
recent
overview
of
its
overseas
power
plants’

carbon
dioxide
emissions,
capacity,
energy
composition
and
investors,
a
press
release
from
the
BU
GDP
Center
said.

An
update
to

China’s
Global
Power
Database,
managed
by
the
BU
GDP
Center,
introduced
new
data
on
the
country’s
overseas
power
plant
portfolio.

The
authors
of
the
brief
found
that
the
makeup
of
China’s
overseas
energy
finance
for
development
finance
institutions
and
foreign
direct
development
has
shifted
to
68
percent
green
energy.
There
have
also
been
no
new
coal-fired
power
plant
investments
since
2021.

The
findings
are
complicated,
however,
since
the
data
shows
a
downward
trend
in
total
energy
investments,
and
the
overall
stock
is
still
heavily
carbon
intensive.

Coal
plants
that
were
in
the
pipeline
before
the
country
made
its
pledge
“are
still
coming
online
and
will
emit
carbon
dioxide
for
decades
going
forward,”
the
researchers
said,
as
Inside
Climate
News
reported.

If
those
coal
plants
are
finished,
they
will
collectively
emit
annual
carbon
emissions
equal
to
the
country
of
Austria,
the
analysis
said.

Another
factor
tempering
the
shift
toward
financing
renewables
in
China’s
overseas
portfolio
is
that
the
country’s
overall
foreign
direct
investment
has
fallen
since
its
peak
in
2016.

“This
shift
does
not
represent
a
significant
ramp-up
in
renewables,
as
the
scale
of
financing
remains
relatively
small,”
the
researchers
said.

Just
three
gigawatts
of
wind
and
solar
capacity
were
funded
in
2022
and
2023.
In
comparison,
China’s
total
overseas
power
investments
between
2013
and
2019
averaged
16
gigawatts
of
capacity.

“China’s
global
energy
financing
is
increasingly
aligned
with
the
green
transition,
but
coal
may
continue
to
represent
a
significant
part
of
China’s
overseas
power
portfolio
as
previously
announced
projects
continue
to
come
online.
Still,
initiatives
such
as
the
Green
Investment
and
Finance
Partnership
(GIFP),
announced
at
the
2023
Belt
and
Road
Forum,
hold
the
potential
to
advance
sustainable
development,
helping
developing
countries
achieve
their
green
energy
objectives,”
the
press
release
said.

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