by Xinhua writer Han Xiao
BEIJING, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) — Under the blazing sun of northeastern Kenya, food stall owner Elizabeth Wanjiku recalled the days when power outages disrupted daily life and spoiled the food in her refrigerator.
Notably, despite Africa’s immense renewable energy potential, around 600 million people on that continent still live without electricity.
“We are experiencing fewer power blackouts and enjoying the benefits of a more reliable electricity supply,” she said, while pointing to the Garissa solar power plant built by a Chinese company.
Wanjiku has managed to extend her stall’s opening hours for four more hours in the evening. “We earn more with longer business time,” she said.
Such solar power plants have brightened villages once shrouded in darkness across Africa — symbolizing a broader shift as affordable, Chinese-made green technologies transform lives far beyond China’s borders, turning natural resources into real opportunities and allowing developing countries to share in the global green transition.
Although some Western critics have focused on so-called green “overcapacity” emanating from China — the misconception that its massive production of solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles is flooding global markets, experts in this field argue that the real challenge of global green transition is not an excess of green capacity, but a shortage of affordable clean energy.
The main obstacle to decarbonization, especially for developing economies, has long been the high cost of green technologies. As recently noted by The Economist, clean technology generally requires more upfront investment than fossil-fuel tech, though it has lower lifetime costs. In regions where financing is expensive, renewables are thus harder to scale.
Chinese innovation and large-scale manufacturing, however, have helped break this barrier. With its clean energy footprint now extending across almost the entire globe, China is helping reshape the carbon trajectory of multiple regions — and supporting their transition toward carbon neutrality.
ACCESSIBLE TO ALL
Backed by the world’s most comprehensive supply chains and a massive market, China has taken a leading position in solar power, wind power, electric vehicles and energy storage, making it a key driver of global green transition.
According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, the sharp decrease in global average costs of electricity from solar and wind was largely attributed to China’s contribution — making clean energy more affordable and accessible worldwide.
One example is the “Africa Solar Belt” initiative, a South-South cooperation project aimed at combating climate change, launched in 2023.
Under this program, China has signed cooperation agreements with countries such as Burundi and Chad, combining its industry advantages and Africa’s abundant sunlight resources to help African households gain access to reliable electricity.
Thanks to cooperation between Chinese and African companies, the cumulative installed capacity of photovoltaic power plants has exceeded 1.5 gigawatts.
China’s efforts in promoting clean energy are increasingly helping curb global carbon emissions in many countries. An analysis from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air in Helsinki showed that Chinese exports of clean-energy technologies in 2024 alone had shaved 1 percent off global emissions outside of China.
EVOLVING GREEN INVESTMENT
Beyond exports of green products, Chinese green technology firms are also ramping up overseas investment to better integrate into regional green industrial ecosystems.
“China’s green trade is evolving from single-product exports toward full supply-chain greening and the delivery of integrated green solutions,” said Zhang Wei, deputy secretary general at the Center for China and Globalization (CCG).
A report by the Net Zero Industrial Policy Lab found that since 2022, Chinese green tech firms have pledged over 210 billion U.S. dollars in foreign investment to expand their supply chains abroad and capture new markets.
Chinese clean-tech giants, including Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL), BYD and Trina Solar have announced investments of billions in overseas factories — in more than 50 countries, according to the report.
In Thuringia, Germany, CATL’s 1.8-billion-euro battery plant boasts an annual design capacity of up to 30 million cells, enough to power roughly 200,000 electric vehicles. The plant, powered by renewable energy and smart energy management systems, has become the firm’s first overseas plant to operate with net-zero carbon emissions.
In Uzbekistan, Chinese photovoltaic giant LONGi coupled with global partners this year to develop Central Asia’s first large-scale green hydrogen project — which is expected to cut about 30,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year compared with traditional hydrogen production models.
“Our cooperation model connects China’s technology with local energy strategies,” said Zhang Wenyin, head of strategy and marketing at LONGi Hydrogen. “It also helps partner countries cultivate local talent and industrial capacity.”
NOT AN ISOLATED ENDEAVOR
Despite strong momentum in global green transition and a shift by industries toward low-carbon development, the rise of green trade has been accompanied by growing protectionism.
Such barriers, experts have warned, could slow the spread of green technologies and limit access for developing countries — especially as sustainable development goals are facing severe headwinds and require more effective collective action.
Data from the World Meteorological Organization revealed that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels had hit a record high in 2024, registering the biggest increase since measurements began.
Trade data, meanwhile, showed that tariff peaks on environmental goods still reach as high as 35 percent — significantly higher than the average tariff level on industrial products, according to Zhang from the CCG.
“Adding to the complexity, some environmental trade measures have evolved into new types of green trade barriers,” he noted, citing that overly-strict environmental standards in some regions may amount to trade protectionism, and create major hurdles for firms in developing economies.
“Global governance of green trade is not an isolated endeavor,” said Long Yongtu, China’s former chief negotiator for entry into the WTO. “It is closely linked to the broader goals of achieving sustainable development and addressing global climate change.”
“We need to expand international and multilateral engagement in the green sector,” Long stressed — calling for deeper technical exchanges and standards coordination, as well as active promotion of third-party market cooperation, thereby leveraging China’s clean-energy technologies to better support global green transition, so that all countries can benefit. ■
