China’s foreign investments in green technology hasn’t matched its bold ambitions — at least not yet.
A new analysis by the Rhodium Group found that the country’s foreign direct investment, or FDI, in electric vehicles, wind turbines and solar panels was about half of what it pledged to do over the last decade. Chinese companies have spent about $85 billion on manufacturing projects that were completed in other countries since 2014. That compares to $173 billion that was announced over that period.
“Our data shows that Chinese companies are becoming more important investors in global clean tech manufacturing, but simply counting FDI pledges overstates the true extent of Chinese FDI,” the research says. The research did not look at domestic production of clean tech components within China or the country’s investment in foreign power generation projects such as wind or solar farms.
The analysis comes as more countries consider erecting trade barriers or local content requirements in order to force Chinese companies to build foreign manufacturing plants.
