2024-10-02 11:30:40
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Chinese companies’ overseas investments in projects related to clean energy technologies will exceed $100 billion from the start of 2023, Australian research group Climate Energy (CEF) said on Wednesday.
China is the world’s largest producer and exporter of products such as solar panels, lithium batteries and electric vehicles, and its investment, innovation and manufacturing capabilities lead the world by an “astonishing margin”, which he said in a study.
The company is responsible for 32.5% of global exports of electric vehicles, 24.1% of lithium batteries and 78.1% of solar panels, but its dominance has raised concerns that it is using its huge excess production capacity to flood international markets , reduce prices and harm. competitors.
The United States and Canada have already imposed 100% tariffs on electric vehicles manufactured in China, and the European Union is expected to vote on the issue this week. North American imports of Chinese solar panels and lithium batteries are also subject to tariffs of 50% and 25%, respectively.
“Investments by Chinese private companies are largely motivated by the need to circumvent trade barriers,” said Xuyang Dong, an analyst at CEF and co-author of the survey.
Dong said BYD (SZ:), China’s top electric vehicle maker, is building a $1 billion factory in Turkey to avoid a proposed EU tariff of nearly 40%, while battery maker CATL is planning factories in Germany, in Hungary and elsewhere.
According to a separate study published this year by the Grantham Institute in the United Kingdom, two-thirds of China’s cleantech capacity would be “surplus to domestic needs” and would be seeking export markets by 2030, with total production capacity of solar energy reaching 860 gigawatts. .
China is unhappy with increases in import surcharges from other countries, saying restrictions on Chinese products undermine efforts to combat climate change.
China’s senior climate envoy Liu Zhenmin warned in March that “decoupling” from Chinese manufacturing could add 20% to the global energy transition bill.
(by David Stanway)
#China #invested #US100 #billion #overseas #clean #energy #technologies #survey #Reuters