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 support sustainable development. While China has established numerous bilateral agreements and funds, the document identifies significant challenges including a gap 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, utilizing its domestic advancements to drive development cooperation in the Global South. This includes the creation of the South–South Climate Cooperation Fund (SSCCF) with CNY8 20-billion and an annual spending of approximately $72 million on South–South climate cooperation for projects ranging from equipment donations to low-carbon development.
• China utilizes the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and other bilateral agreements to transfer green technology. As of November 2023, China signed 48 memorandums of understanding with 40 developing countries. Specific examples include the China–Africa Clean Energy Technology Demonstration Centre in Kenya and the ASEAN Green Technology Demonstration Centre in Thailand, which focuses on green building, transport, and agriculture.
• Beyond energy, China exports green agricultural technology, specifically 'Juncao technology' developed by the National Engineering Research Centre of the Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University. This technology, which allows mushrooms to be grown from dried, chopped grass without deforestation, has been applied in 17 countries in the Global South.
• China's green technology transfer is integrated into global trade, exporting photovoltaic modules to over 100 countries and regions and wind power equipment to more than 70 countries.
• Several critical challenges hinder the effectiveness of China's green initiatives. These include a mismatch where BRI projects have not fully compensated for environmental degradation, and a lack of transparency in environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure due to technical barriers in accounting and auditing.
• The sustainability of green projects is severely limited by a 'bottleneck' of insufficient local capacity to operate and maintain advanced technologies, leading to an over-reliance on external Chinese expertise.
• Geopolitical competition between China and Western nations complicates technology adoption in the Global South, as host countries must navigate competing offers and disinformation that can create mistrust.

APA

CHUANHONG, Z., & HAISEN, L. (2024). China’s Climate and Energy Partnerships in the Global South. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/SAIIA_PB_297_ChinaClimateEnergy.pdf

Chicago

CHUANHONG, ZHANG, and LIN HAISEN. China’s Climate and Energy Partnerships in the Global South. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2024. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/SAIIA_PB_297_ChinaClimateEnergy.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=CHUANHONG |first1=ZHANG |last2=HAISEN |first2=LIN |title=China’s Climate and Energy Partnerships in the Global South |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=July 2024 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/SAIIA_PB_297_ChinaClimateEnergy.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{chuanhong2024chinas, author = {CHUANHONG, ZHANG and HAISEN, LIN}, 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/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/SAIIA_PB_297_ChinaClimateEnergy.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }