What’s After Coal? Accelerating China’s Overseas Investment in Renewables

Following its 2021 pledge to stop financing overseas coal projects, China faces a choice between investing in natural gas or renewable energy. The document argues that China lacks the domestic market maturity and technical export edge to compete with countries like Japan and the US in gas power generation, where it ranked 13th in investment from 2001 to 2022. Conversely, China dominates global renewable manufacturing, controlling 72% of solar and 50% of wind turbine markets. While high demand in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries and low equipment costs favor a green pivot, challenges such as geopolitical tensions, regulatory unevenness, and limited insurance capacity from Sinosure hinder the bankability of renewable projects.

• China has adhered to its September 2021 commitment to stop funding new overseas coal power plants, but there are concerns that it may instead increase investments in natural gas, which would lock in polluting infrastructure.
• China lacks a comparative advantage in overseas gas power generation compared to OECD nations and multilateral development banks because it does not have a mature domestic gas market or a strong technical service export industry. Between 2001 and 2022, China ranked 13th in international gas power generation investments with $6.8 billion, significantly less than Japan's investment.
• China is well-positioned to lead in renewable energy due to its dominance in global manufacturing, accounting for 50% of wind turbines and 72% of solar manufacturing, which results in lower equipment prices and an efficient supply chain.
• Despite the advantages, several barriers impede the growth of Chinese renewable investments, including geopolitical tensions, the 2020 'dual circulation' policy focusing on the domestic market, and the limited insurance capacity of Sinosure to provide export guarantees.

APA

World Resources Institute (2023). What’s After Coal? Accelerating China’s Overseas Investment in Renewables. https://www.wri.org/insights/whats-after-coal-accelerating-chinas-overseas-investment-renewables

Chicago

World Resources Institute. What’s After Coal? Accelerating China’s Overseas Investment in Renewables. 2023. https://www.wri.org/insights/whats-after-coal-accelerating-chinas-overseas-investment-renewables.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=What’s After Coal? Accelerating China’s Overseas Investment in Renewables |date=31 January 2023 |url=https://www.wri.org/insights/whats-after-coal-accelerating-chinas-overseas-investment-renewables |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2023whats, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{What’s After Coal? Accelerating China’s Overseas Investment in Renewables}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2023}, month = jan, url = {https://www.wri.org/insights/whats-after-coal-accelerating-chinas-overseas-investment-renewables}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }