China's Climate and Energy Partnerships in the Global South

This policy brief examines China's role in transferring green technology to the Global South, highlighting its leadership in renewable energy and the mechanisms used to disseminate this technology. It analyzes the achievements of initiatives like the Belt and Road Initiative and the South–South Climate Cooperation Fund, while identifying critical challenges including gaps between environmental commitments and actual impacts, limited local operational capacity, and geopolitical tensions.

• China has established itself as a global leader in green technology and renewable energy, ranking first globally in clean energy investment for several consecutive years. It has exported photovoltaic modules to over 100 countries and regions and wind power equipment to more than 70 countries.
• China utilizes several financial and strategic frameworks to support green development in the Global South, including the CNY 20-billion South–South Climate Cooperation Fund (SSCCF) and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), where climate change and green development are among eight priority areas.
• China's green technology transfer manifests in diverse sectors and regions: it has signed 48 memorandums of understanding with 40 developing countries as of November 2023. Specific examples include the China–Africa Clean Energy Technology Demonstration Centre in Kenya, the ASEAN Green Technology Demonstration Centre in Thailand, and the promotion of Juncao mushroom-growing technology in 17 Global South countries.
• There is a significant gap between China's stated environmental commitments and the actual impacts of its projects. Critics suggest that BRI projects, such as solar farms and hydroelectric plants, have not fully offset the resource overuse and environmental degradation they have caused.
• Limited local capacity to operate and maintain advanced green technologies is identified as the most significant bottleneck for project sustainability, leading to an over-reliance on external expertise for the maintenance of systems like wind turbines and solar panels.
• China faces challenges regarding transparency and global standards, specifically lagging in environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure due to technical barriers in auditing and accounting. This has been linked to socio-environmental issues such as ecosystem disruption and community displacement in large-scale projects.
• Geopolitical competition between China and Western nations complicates technology transfer. While this competition can provide host countries with more technology options, it also fosters mistrust through disinformation and negative framing of Chinese initiatives as tools for geopolitical influence.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2024). China's Climate and Energy Partnerships in the Global South. https://saiia.org.za/research/chinas-climate-and-energy-partnerships-in-the-global-south/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. China's Climate and Energy Partnerships in the Global South. 2024. https://saiia.org.za/research/chinas-climate-and-energy-partnerships-in-the-global-south/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=China's Climate and Energy Partnerships in the Global South |date=25 July 2024 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/chinas-climate-and-energy-partnerships-in-the-global-south/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2024chinas, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{China's Climate and Energy Partnerships in the Global South}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2024}, month = jul, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/chinas-climate-and-energy-partnerships-in-the-global-south/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }