Category: Environment

China’s Ecological Civilization explained

The following article by Douglas Rooney, originally published on Li Jingjing’s China Up Close blog, explores the concept of ecological civilisation in depth.

While the phrase is most often associated with President Xi Jinping – who has made it a central theme of Chinese governance – the concept has deep roots in Chinese culture, and is closely connected to the idea of harmony with nature. Doug notes: “The concept of an ‘ecological civilisation’ was first proposed by European researchers in the late 1960s. The term began to be used by Chinese academics in the 1980s and quickly gained in popularity among scientists and researchers. In the 1990s and early 2000s, prominent politicians such as Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping began to push for theories of ecological civilisation to be adopted as Chinese government policy.”

Doug explains that the concept of ecological civilisation became firmly embedded in China’s political mainstream in the 2000s, and is by now widely understood and embraced by the Chinese people. Its acceptance is partly due to its resonance with traditional culture, but also due to the way it has been linked to the country’s modernisation project and improvement of living conditions. In short, “the construction of China’s ecological civilization has created an environment in which investing in the green transition is a good way to make money… China has achieved remarkable progress on the environment by demonstrating to normal people as well as to business and community leaders that they need not choose between the environment and economic prosperity. Indeed, preserving the environment and tackling pollution can often be a route to economic prosperity.”

The results speak for themselves:

The scale of China’s green transformation in the last few decades is truly staggering. In 2023 alone, China would spend more on its green transition than the rest of the world combined and accounted for 75% of the global wind farm and the majority of solar panel installations. China’s EV batteries account for 60% of the global market. Around 40% of the world’s hydrogen refueling stations are in China, along with the world’s largest green hydrogen project and the world’s first zero-carbon factory.

Furthermore, with the Trump administration in the US pursuing a strategy of environmental recklessness, China is more critical than ever to the global green transition. “East Africa’s largest solar power plant was built by China, as was the Der Aar Wind Farm, one of South Africa’s largest. China was also behind Suriname’s hybrid microgrid solar power project, which ended rural reliance on diesel for the generation of electricity. They also helped build Brazil’s colossal Belo Monte Hydropower plant. As the United States returns to climate denial under the Trump administration, China will be the Global South’s only realistic partner in achieving a green transition that still delivers industrial development.”

Douglas Rooney is a Scottish Christian Socialist, currently working in Beijing.

In 2005, Xi Jinping, then secretary of Zhejiang Province, wrote an article in the Zhejiang Daily newspaper called “Green Mountains and Clear Waters are also Gold and Silver Mountains.” The article argued in favour of Hu Jintao’s concept of the scientific outlook of development, which emphasized the harmony between humanity and nature and underlined that while economic development was vitally important, this could not come at the expense of the environment. This would become known as the “Two Mountains Theory.”

Upon becoming president in 2012, Xi would make the “Two Mountains Theory” a cornerstone of the Chinese government’s approach to development. However, the concept underpinning his “Two Mountains Theory” – that of an ecological civilization – did not originate with Xi. Instead, his 2005 article and the green policies he has championed, first as secretary of Zhejiang and later as president of China, are part of a larger movement within Chinese society that was inspired by theories of ecological civilization coming out of the European scientific community in the 1960s and 1970s. What Xi and other leading Chinese theorists did was to fit these concepts into the Chinese context. Today, China has made the concept of an ecological civilization very much its own, and, I would argue, you cannot understand contemporary China without first understanding what China means when it talks about its ecological civilization.

Continue reading China’s Ecological Civilization explained

Video: China’s environmental strategies

Embedded below is a talk given by Friends of Socialist China co-editor Carlos Martinez at a meeting of the South Yorkshire Morning Star Supporters Group, at the Central United Reformed Church, Sheffield, Britain, on Thursday 27 March 2025.

Carlos explains why it’s not reasonable for the West to pin the blame for the environmental crisis onto China or to portray it as a climate criminal; the remarkable progress China is making on renewable energy, electric transport, biodiversity protection and afforestation; China’s role in pushing forward the global energy transition; and the dangers of the escalating New Cold War in terms of preventing urgently-needed cooperation on environmental issues.

The presentation was followed by a lively discussion and Q&A.

China, Britain pledge to jointly address climate change

Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang met with Ed Miliband, British Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, in Beijing on Monday 17 March. According to a UK government press release, this was the first formal bilateral discussion between the two countries on climate action in nearly eight years.

At the meeting, Ding Xuexiang stated that developing stable and mutually beneficial relations between China and the UK serves the common interests of the two peoples, facilitates global economic growth, and promotes joint efforts to address global challenges.

Xinhua reports: “Miliband said the UK government sincerely hopes to enhance engagement with China, is committed to developing a long-term and constructive bilateral relationship, and stands ready to strengthen cooperation with China on energy security and addressing climate change.”

Miliband also met with Wang Hongzhi, head of China’s National Energy Administration, after which meeting the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding, outlining key areas of cooperation including power grids, battery storage, offshore wind power and green hydrogen.

As Friends of Socialist China co-editor Carlos Martinez commented to the Morning Star, it is a positive sign that Miliband has visited Beijing and that the British government is exploring opportunities for cooperation with China around the climate emergency.

After all, China is the world’s only renewable energy superpower, and is leading the way globally in terms of electric transport, afforestation, biodiversity protection, pollution reduction, sustainable water management, and more. A report from Yale School of the Environment notes:

Today, China has more than 80 percent of the world’s solar manufacturing capacity. The extraordinary scale of China’s renewables sector output has driven down prices worldwide, and this is a key factor in reducing the cost barrier to renewable systems for poorer countries. Today China not only holds important positions in wind and battery technologies, but a Chinese company, BYD, has become the world’s biggest EV manufacturer, and China is poised to pose a formidable global challenge in all aspects of electric transportation to established vehicle brands.

The idea that the West can solve the climate crisis while simultaneously “decoupling” from China is thus entirely unrealistic, and clearly there is a great deal Britain can learn from China.

Miliband’s visit to Beijing is a step in the right direction. Less helpful are his remarks in the Guardian on 14 March 2025, promising to “raise issues including forced labour in supply chains, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and human rights in Hong Kong”.

The slanderous accusations of forced labour in Xinjiang have been used to impose sanctions on Chinese renewable energy materials, and as such form a direct impediment to global climate action.

Meanwhile it’s Miliband’s own government which is basing its growth strategy on the expansion of the arms industry rather than pursuing a Green New Deal. This same government has actively contributed to NATO’s proxy war in Ukraine, which is having a disastrous environmental impact – aside from its tragic more immediate human impact.

Furthermore, the British government’s recent cuts to its overseas aid budget will “make it more difficult for the government to deliver on a promise to increase climate finance to developing countries”. This doesn’t compare favourably with China’s construction of a Green Belt and Road, providing investment in renewable energy and green infrastructure projects across the Global South.

British politicians would do well to drop their empire nostalgia and to avoid hectoring their Chinese counterparts. When it comes to humanity’s shared project of preventing climate catastrophe, Britain has more to learn than to teach. While China has established itself as by far the global leader in renewable energy, Britain “has lost its position as a global leader on climate action”.

Miliband is correct to say that “it is simply an act of negligence to today’s and future generations not to engage China.” Parroting Washington’s anti-China Cold War propaganda will only create friction in this important relationship. It is to be hoped that Miliband’s trip to Beijing is a springboard for further cooperation.

Science fiction or science reality: China makes impressive progress towards space-based solar power

The article below, written by J Hagler for Workers World, reports on the Chinese Academy of Space Technology’s project of building a Space Solar Power Station (SSPS), expected to launch into low orbit by 2028.

The notion of space-based solar power has existed for decades, but has been considered too expensive and technically challenging to be feasible. The concept essentially consists of launching solar panels into space, where they can receive sunlight (at a far higher intensity than on Earth, and constantly rather than intermittently), and then converting the energy into microwaves, which are beamed to Earth and converted back into electricity. While this technology sounds far-fetched – and will likely not be economically competitive for some time to come – it has some significant advantages over terrestrial solar power, including the ability to generate power 24/7, and the potential to direct power to specific locations on Earth according to need.

Long Lehao, a rocket scientist and member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, was cited in the South China Morning Post as saying: “Imagine installing a solar array 1km wide along the 36,000km geostationary orbit… The energy collected in one year would be equivalent to the total amount of oil that can be extracted from the Earth.”

It’s no accident that People’s China is taking the lead in this field. As Hagler writes, “the project illustrates socialist China’s ability to do long term planning… The potential to create free clean energy is here and is being led by a country with a planned economy, actively pursuing socialist development.” A capitalist system oriented towards short-term profit is increasingly incapable of conducting such large-scale research in the public interest. “It’s easier for capitalist enterprises to make quarterly profits supplying weapons for killing women and children in Palestine than to develop an economy in a way that benefits all of society, instead of just a wealthy few.”

The article concludes:

The Communist Party of China has proven that innovations capable of seeing humanity through this storm are possible with central planning and socially directed investment, if necessary over a long term.

“The acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force in our lives. We work to better ourselves and the rest of humanity,” said fictional Captain Picard of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”

Humanity is standing on the cusp. Climate change is presenting the U.S. with the same choice nature has gifted all its species: evolve or die; change is the only constant.

As the cost of basic goods and, more importantly, energy continues to rise across the capitalist economies of Japan, Western Europe and North America, others have decided to utilize their economy to actually innovate. Instead of phallic vanity projects of the impotent super-wealthy, presented by SpaceX and Blue Origin, the “Chinese Academy of Space Technology” (CAST) has shown humanity a different way forward into the stars.

The construction of a “Space Solar Power Station” (SSPS) has already begun and is expected to launch into low orbit by 2028. Over 100 researchers and students across a multitude of disciplines are collectively leading the project for the SSPS at Xidian University.

An article in cgtn.com, website of the Chinese Global Television Network, published in June 2022 read: “SSPS is a space-based power generation system used to collect solar energy before converting it to electricity and then microwaves. Next, the energy in microwaves is to be transmitted and harvested by the receiving antenna either in space or on the Earth’s surface, which converts microwaves back into electricity.” (tinyurl.com/cgtn-ssps1)

The project illustrates socialist China’s ability to do long term planning. The same article says: “By 2035, the microwave transmitting antenna is expected to be enlarged to about 100 meters plus power generation of 10 megawatts. The goal in 2050 is to build a commercially operated solar plant that generates electricity of two gigawatts with an antenna that would be around one-kilometer and a complex solar cell array to be assembled in space.”

This project is a monumental undertaking and has the power to generate more kilowatt hours of energy in one year than all of the oil contained within the Earth. It has been called everything from the “Manhattan Project of Energy” to the “Three Gorges Dam of Space.” (tinyurl.com/scmp-ssps)

The potential to create free clean energy is here and is being led by a country with a planned economy, actively pursuing socialist development.

U.S. scientists knew it since 1968

The irony of this announcement is that scientists in the capitalist-led United States have known about this technology since 1968 when scientist and aerospace engineer Peter Glaser conceptualized the idea. U.S. corporations could have spearheaded the development of this technology decades ago. Instead, the government invested a measly $17.5 million into Northrop Grumman in 2013 so the weapons manufacturer could “research” the development of an SSPS.

Similar investment is also going into other weapons companies like Lockheed Martin. Imagine, instead of spending 1.5 trillion U.S. tax dollars on the boondoggle of all weapons systems, the F-35, the U.S. had spent that money building the groundwork of an SSPS. If the U.S. government had something akin to a “five year plan,” they could have made progress in developing this energy source.

It’s easier, however, for capitalist enterprises to make quarterly profits supplying weapons for killing women and children in Palestine than to develop an economy in a way that benefits all of society, instead of just a wealthy few.

Projects like the SSPS could not be coming online at a more crucial time. Climate change is putting into question the future of humanity and, if the worst-case scenarios are to unfold, of most other species as well. The rate of CO2 being pumped into the atmosphere is unprecedented in planetary history. Humanity is truly in uncharted waters.

Running an entire economy and society based on what is most profitable is what led the U.S. into these crises. The capitalist class cannot lead the U.S. out of the crises, because the very incentives which make the gears of capitalism turn would grind to a halt if profits are even interrupted, never mind if they ceased entirely due to technologies capable of providing near limitless, scarcity-free energy.

The Communist Party of China has proven that innovations capable of seeing humanity through this storm are possible with central planning and socially directed investment, if necessary over a long term. The U.S., Western Europe, Japan and world capitalism are going through yet another economic crisis while engaged in yet more “forever” wars as the falling rates of profit continue to fall.

The working and oppressed masses of these countries do not have to continue letting their leaders take them down the primrose path of ecocide and World War III. Rosa Luxemburg’s challenge of “socialism or barbarism” is being replaced by a new one: Conjured by the physical limits of the planet itself, the challenge is now becoming “socialism or extinction.”

Grenadian PM: China’s people-centred development an inspiration for humanity

Prime Minister of Grenada Dickon Mitchell paid an official visit to China, January 11-17, becoming the first head of government to visit in 2025. The visit, which took in Beijing, Shanghai and Zhejiang province, also celebrated the 20th anniversary of the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Announcing the visit at a January 9 press conference of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, spokesperson Guo Jiakun said that Grenada is an important country in the Caribbean region and an important partner of China in the region, adding that since the resumption of diplomatic ties, China and Grenada have always respected each other and treated each other as equals, understood and supported each other on issues concerning each other’s core interests and major concerns, and maintained sound and steady development of bilateral relations.

Prime Minister Mitchell met with the senior leaders of China on January 13.

President Xi Jinping said that China is willing to provide assistance for Grenada’s economic and social development within the framework of South-South cooperation. The two countries should foster new highlights of cooperation in fields such as new energy, green and low-carbon development, and digital economy.

Xi noted that in recent years, China-Grenada relations have developed steadily, with the two sides treating each other with mutual respect and equality, consolidating political mutual trust, achieving fruitful results in practical cooperation in various fields, and deepening the friendship between the two peoples.

China supports Grenada in independently exploring a development path suited to its national conditions, and stands ready to strengthen exchanges of governance experience.

Xi added that China also supports Grenada in enhancing its capacity in climate change response and disaster prevention and mitigation, and will continue to raise international awareness of small island countries’ concerns over climate change and their demands. China has always attached great importance to its relations with Caribbean countries and will continue to provide assistance within its capacity for the economic and social development of regional countries.

Mitchell expressed appreciation for China’s timely assistance after Grenada was hit by a devastating hurricane in July last year. Over the past 20 years, the Grenada-China relations have been continuously deepened, and Grenada firmly abides by the one-China principle and believes that China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected, he added.

He said Grenada, having benefited a lot from its relations with China, will continuously strengthen cooperation with China and learn from China’s experience in governance.

Continue reading Grenadian PM: China’s people-centred development an inspiration for humanity

China’s Great Green Wall is a vision of hope for the planet

The article below, written by Friends of Socialist China co-editor Carlos Martinez for the Morning Star, describes the recent milestone success scored in China’s Great Green Wall with the announcement that Xinjiang’s Taklimakan Desert – China’s largest desert and the world’s second-largest shifting sand desert – has been completely surrounded with a green belt composed of drought-resistant tree species. Carlos notes that this forest belt “constitutes the world’s longest green ecological barrier”.

The article goes on to discuss the dangers of desertification, which is a major environmental problem in China, and the world more broadly, as well as describing how “China has been proactively engaging with countries around the world to combat desertification, sharing its experience and helping other developing nations implement desertification control strategies”.

Comparing China’s cooperative approach with the US’s orientation towards war and hegemony, Carlos concludes:

China’s commitment to international co-operation stands in stark contrast to the hegemonism of the US and its allies, reminding humanity of the urgent choice it faces between a Global Community of Shared Future and a Project for a New American Century.

IN 1978, China launched its Three North Shelter Forest (Green Great Wall) Programme, aimed at creating a forest chain extending from Xinjiang in the far north-west to Heilongjiang in the far north-east, to prevent further expansion of the Gobi and Taklimakan deserts. This multi-generational project is scheduled for completion in 2050.

According to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the programme “has greatly increased the forest coverage and effectively combated desertification in the programme area, improved the overall situation of serious wind-sand hazards and soil erosion, enhanced the resilience and adaptability to natural disasters and climate change.”

Further, “thanks to the development of forest and fruit-related industries, tens of millions of local people have been pulled out of poverty.”

The Great Green Wall scored a milestone success in November 2024 with the announcement that the Taklimakan Desert (in Xinjiang) has been completely surrounded with a green belt stretching 3,046 kilometres, composed of drought-resistant tree species like red willows, saxaul and desert poplar.

Taklimakan is China’s largest desert and the world’s second-largest shifting sand desert, meaning that its sand dunes constantly shift, causing erosion of grasslands and expansion of the desert. The forest belt now surrounding it constitutes the world’s longest green ecological barrier.

China has, for the last few decades, been the world leader in forestation. Its forest coverage in 1980 was just 12 per cent; as a result of a systematic greening campaign, coverage has now reached 24 per cent.

President Xi Jinping has often emphasised the importance of forest development: “Forests are the mainstay and an important resource for the land ecosystem. They are also an important ecological safeguard for the survival and development of mankind. It is hard to imagine what would happen to the earth and human beings without forests.”

One particularly interesting innovation developed in Xinjiang has been the use of photovoltaic sand control, whereby large solar farms are installed in arid and semi-arid regions. The solar panels act as physical barriers, reducing wind speed at ground level and thereby hindering erosion.

Further, the shade provided by the panels helps reduce surface temperature and aids moisture retention. This dew can even be used for growing grasses and herbs under the panels.

Desertification — the creeping transformation of fertile soil into arid land — poses a major threat to China, affecting over 27 per cent of the country’s land and around 400 million of its people.

A Forbes article from 2017 notes that “the Gobi is the fastest-growing desert on Earth, transforming nearly 2,250 miles of grassland per year into an inhospitable wasteland. This expansion eats away at space that was once fit for agriculture and creates unbridled sandstorms that batter cities near the edge of the desert.”

Indeed, desertification has accelerated worldwide in recent decades. A recent UN report labelled it as a “global, existential peril,” pointing out that three-quarters of Earth’s land was drier in 2020 than it was in 1990. This is, to a significant degree, a function of climate change, with rising temperatures leading to higher rates of evaporation and reduced soil moisture.

War, instability and poverty all have a mutually reinforcing effect on desertification. One of the most successful water projects of the 20th century was Libya’s Great Man-Made River (GMMR), which transported fresh water from ancient underground aquifers in the Sahara Desert to coastal cities and agricultural lands.

The largest irrigation project in the world, it helped to prevent soil degradation, reduce desert encroachment, and enable agriculture in desert regions. The GMMR was dubbed by Muammar Gadaffi as the “eighth wonder of the world,” and even Newsweek grudgingly admits that “this title is not without justification.”

Tragically, the GMMR was deliberately targeted during Nato’s regime-change war in 2011, and given the ongoing political instability in the country, it has yet to be properly restored.

Mustafa Fetouri writes: “The entire project’s infrastructure is under threat. Political instability, negligence, illegal connections to its pipelines and badly maintained water networks are among the biggest problems. In July 2011, Nato bombed the biggest pipe-making plant at Brega in eastern Libya, killing six of the facility’s security guards. In a press release, the alliance claimed it was responding to ground fire coming from the facility.”

Nichole Barger, chair of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification’s science-policy interface, insists that “by embracing innovative solutions and fostering global solidarity” humanity can meet the challenge of desertification and thereby avoid “a future marked by hunger, displacement, and economic decline.”

Thankfully, while Nato countries spread war and instability, China has been proactively engaging with countries around the world to combat desertification, sharing its experience and helping other developing nations implement desertification control strategies.

China has contributed to vast tree-planting programmes throughout Africa and Asia. It provides financial aid, equipment and technical assistance to countries struggling with desertification, as well as sharing technologies for sand fixation, water-saving agriculture, and afforestation. China is working closely with the African Union to support Africa’s own Great Green Wall initiative.

The scale of China’s Great Green Wall shows once again the importance of its people-centred, socialist governance and the country’s commitment to the long-term wellbeing of its people.

China’s commitment to international co-operation stands in stark contrast to the hegemonism of the US and its allies, reminding humanity of the urgent choice it faces between a Global Community of Shared Future and a Project for a New American Century.

“Nothing like before” — China is out-competing the West on EVs

The following article, written by Paweł Wargan for Progressive International, examines the neverending accusations by Western media and politicians regarding China’s putative ‘overcapacity’ in electric vehicles (EVs). Paweł explores the reasons for these accusations, and comprehensively refutes them.

The article observes that China’s industrial utilisation rates and inventory levels are similar to those of the US, and furthermore Chinese profit margins are soaring. These factors indicate that there is no significant overcapacity in China’s EV sector.

As for the notion that China’s rise has caused the decline of Western industry, Paweł points out that the decline of Western manufacturing predates China’s rise. “In the US, the trade balance has seen a sustained deficit since the late 1970s. As the productive structure of its economy shifted, industrial capital made way for financial capital. The number of manufacturing jobs decreased from around 20 million at their peak in 1979 to under 13 million today — a period in which the US saw its population rise by 100 million.”

Describing some of the extraordinary innovations taking place in China’s EV sector – in particular a ‘road-cloud-vehicle’ integration that improves safety and reduces energy use – Paweł comments that “this degree of integration is only possible through control over the entire EV value chain”. Particularly in the light of US-led sanctions and tariffs, “China began to move quickly towards technological sovereignty in all areas, from chips and artificial intelligence to cars and batteries”. As a result, “it competes not only with the automobile industry — historically the domain of the West. It also now competes with the tech giants of Silicon Valley”. Obviously, this speaks to the superiority of a socialist economy where decision-making lies ultimately with the people, rather than a few billionaires.

Paweł writes that the accusations of overcapacity provide a convenient pretext for the West to embark upon its own program of protectionism – exactly what it accuses China of doing – as well as “allowing the Western leadership to blame China for the structural long-term decline of the global capitalist economy”. Alarmingly, the situation also shows that the West would rather sabotage China’s economy and the global green transition than cooperate sensibly with China on the basis of mutual benefit.

Paweł Wargan is an activist, researcher and organiser. He serves as Political Coordinator at the Progressive International, an international coalition of over 100 popular movements, political parties, and unions. He contributed to our conference marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

The past year has seen a concerted effort by Western politicians, regime intellectuals, and media stenographers to accuse China of “overcapacity”. The coordinated narrative has accompanied a choreographed escalation in the West’s economic war on China. What is motivating these accusations?

In May 2024, the White House announced a series of new tariffs on Chinese products, including a 100% tax on imports of Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), set to take effect later this year. The European Union followed closely behind. In July, the Commission announced duties ranging from 17.4% to 37.6% on Chinese EV manufacturers. And in August, Canada announced 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs along with 25% tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminium.

The White House insisted that the measures would “protect American manufacturers from China’s unfair trade practices” and ensure that “the future of the auto industry will be made in America by American workers.” The European Commission cited China’s “unfair subsidisation” and Canada warned of the threat of China’s “intentional, state-directed policy of overcapacity”. In this narrative, now choreographed and ritualized across the West, China’s “overcapacity” is to blame for the West’s rising trade deficits and persistent inability to reindustrialize.

China has responded firmly to these accusations. In a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and the European Commission’s Ursula von der Leyen in May, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that there is no such thing as “China’s overcapacity problem”, and emphasised China’s contribution to the green transition. China’s Foreign Ministry said that the “overcapacity” thesis was a “pretext” to create new restrictions on China’s energy products.

China’s “overcapacity” and the West’s industrial decline

Overcapacity can be measured in three ways. First, we can look at the “capacity utilization rate”, or the degree to which available industrial capacity is being used. Second, we can look at inventory levels; a high number of unsold goods gathering dust in warehouses might suggest that production exceeds demand. Third, we can look at profit margins, which would have to fall to help empty the brimming warehouses and make way for new goods.

As French economics commentator Arnaud Bertrand found, China does not show signs of “overcapacity” across any of these measures. On the contrary, its industrial utilization rates and inventory levels are similar to those of the United States, and Chinese profit margins are soaring.

Continue reading “Nothing like before” — China is out-competing the West on EVs

People over profit: How China is tackling climate change

The article below, written by Scott Scheffer for Struggle for Socialism, provides an overview of China’s remarkable progress in recent years in developing renewable energy and electric transport, and the role played by socialism in this process.

What China has accomplished shows how people’s ownership of the world’s productive forces, instead of a tiny clique of billionaires owning everything, will solve this planetary crisis.

Scott discusses the global impact of China’s innovation and investment in renewable energy. The production cost of wind and solar power has reduced drastically over the last decade, primarily a function of China-led economies of scale. The impact of this on the Global South is transformative: “For instance, a struggling country in Africa, Latin America, or Asia relying on coal for energy can now replace a decrepit coal-fired power plant with a solar or wind farm more cheaply than repairing or replacing that coal plant.”

Scott further notes that the Communist Party of China (CPC) has “taken the significant step of incorporating environmental protection into both its party constitution and the constitution of the People’s Republic of China”. The nature of China’s socialist system is such that, in its pursuit of an ecological civilisation, the Chinese government “does not face opposition from super-rich monopoly corporations” and can therefore direct its efforts to meeting the needs of people and planet. Scott concludes:

2024 will prove to be the hottest year on record globally. Alongside the horrors of the genocide in Gaza and the U.S. proxy war against Russia, capitalism has dished out the most punishment of the planet in recent memory. Only socialism can end imperialist war and save the planet.

It’s so fitting that just after the 75th anniversary of China’s revolution on Oct. 1, a milestone in China’s efforts to deal with greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) has emerged in the narrative surrounding global warming. What they have accomplished shows how people’s ownership of the world’s productive forces, instead of a tiny clique of billionaires owning everything, will solve this planetary crisis.

Climatologists and scientists widely recognize that China will likely reach its peak greenhouse gas emissions in 2024, although further research will be needed to confirm this with complete accuracy. If the data ultimately shows that the peak does not occur in 2024, it is almost certain to happen in 2025. Even in that case, China would still achieve peak emissions five years earlier than its official target, which President Xi Jinping announced at the 2020 UN General Assembly. This target aimed to reach peak emissions by 2030.

Other countries have reached peak emissions as well, but because China is so huge, UN figures and climatologists are buzzing with excitement over this development. It has great implications for the entire world, particularly for the Global South. 

U.S. corporate media often portray China’s crowning achievement as a problem rather than progress.

Mass production of renewables

Chinese mass production of renewable energy components — wind and solar — has driven down the prices globally. It isn’t just the solar panels on rooftops that millions are aware of; China has developed renewables on an industrial scale — wind and solar farms built at much lower costs and capable of supplying energy for cities and industry. 

What this means to the Global South cannot be overstated. For instance, a struggling country in Africa, Latin America, or Asia relying on coal for energy can now replace a decrepit coal-fired power plant with a solar or wind farm more cheaply than repairing or replacing that coal plant. 

The flaw of wind and solar power’s intermittent availability is still there. China is still running coal plants in its territory as a backup for those times when the sun goes down, or the wind stops. 

On average, Chinese coal plants run half the time or less. This simple first step provided what seems to be an outsized result, and it can be replicated where it is needed in the Global South until the intermittency problem with renewables is resolved via other methods. 

Continue reading People over profit: How China is tackling climate change

China is the indispensable country when it comes to tackling the climate crisis

Friends of Socialist China co-editor Carlos Martinez addressed a Young Communist League of Britain educational on capitalism and the environment, held on Zoom on 14 November 2024.

In his presentation, Carlos discusses the current trend in the West for blaming China for the climate crisis, on the basis of its having become the largest emitter of greenhouse gases. He points out the various flaws in this logic, including that China’s per capita emissions are around half those of the US; that China is the “workshop of the world” and, as such, has “imported” a huge volume of emissions from the West; and that, in terms of cumulative carbon emissions (the quantity of excess carbon dioxide currently in the atmosphere), North America and Western Europe are responsible for the lion’s share.

He notes that China’s environmental record is purposefully painted in a negative light in order to minimise the West’s historic responsibility and to imply that China – a developing country – should contribute at the same level as the West to the global fund for helping poorer countries with climate change adaptation and mitigation. This clearly runs counter to the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities – a principle enshrined in international law.

Carlos also highlights China’s remarkable progress in the last 10-20 years in pursuing an ecological civilisation, noting that environmental protection has become integrated into all levels of policy-making and economic planning. Credible analysis indicates that it has already reached its goal of peaking carbon emissions by 2030. Meanwhile, it has become by far the global leader in renewable energy, electric transport, biodiversity protection and afforestation. China’s innovations and investment in green energy have brought costs down globally by upwards of 80 percent, and, via the Belt and Road Initiative, China is helping countries of the Global South to leapfrog fossil fuel-based development.

Carlos goes on to explore the reasons that China in particular has emerged as a trailblazer in environmental protection, and concludes by pointing to the danger of a New Cold War impeding urgently-needed global cooperation around climate change.

Imperialism fails to quash China’s EV revolution

The following article by Chris Fry, a retired autoworker who worked as an assembler at Chrysler’s Lynch Road Assembly in Detroit until the company closed the plant in 1980, addresses the crisis facing the car manufacturing industry in the US and Europe, noting that many of the largest car manufacturers are shedding thousands of jobs and closing plants.

Chris notes that car manufacturers in the West have failed to invest seriously in electric vehicles, and industrial policy has been shaped to a significant degree by the interests of the fossil fuel industry. Meanwhile, “China, due in large part to its socialist economic and social system and its social ownership of much of its production and its scientific planning, has developed the infrastructure of EV production in a vast scale capable of producing emission-free vehicles of high quality at an affordable price for working class consumers”.

Rather than develop a coherent industrial policy, successive administrations in the US have turned to protectionism, imposing tariffs on Chinese EVs “designed to deny workers in the U.S. affordable emissions-free vehicles, notwithstanding all the supposed ‘concern’ from Washington over global warming”.

Chris concludes: “The accomplishments by the Chinese workers and their workers’ government represent a pathway to victory for ourselves and our families for an empowered and prosperous future.”

This article was originally published in Fighting Words.

On October 18 tens of thousands of Italian auto workers held a nationwide strike and marched through the streets of Rome. Organized by three unions, this action was led by workers from the Italian-based conglomerate Stellantis, composed also by the French company Peugeot as well as the U.S. Chrysler Corporation.

Stellantis is the world’s fourth largest automaker. It is projected to end the year with a loss of $11.2 billion.

The worker’s militant action not only targeted the company, but also was against the right-wing Italian government. The unions are demanding incentives to allow workers to be able to afford electric cars.

This was the first such militant worker action in Rome in 20 years.

UAW lines up to confront Stellantis

On October 3, the UAW, led by President Shawn Fain, held a rally and march to the Michigan Sterling Heights Stellantis Stamping plant:

Outside the UAW Local 1264, about 400 UAW members listened to speeches from UAW leadership, including UAW President Shawn Fain, and chanted, “Keep the promise” and “Fire Tavares” (Carlos Tavares is the CEO of Stellantis, the automaker that owns the Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat brands). They then marched about a half mile to Stellantis’ Sterling Stamping Plant.

“Are you ready to do whatever we have to do to save American jobs,” Fain asked the crowd. “This is our generation’s defining moment. Over this last year, we moved a lot of mountains, but we’ve got more mountains to move.”

The union is demanding that the company live up to the 2023 contract and reopen the Belvidere Assembly Plant, converted to an EV battery plant in Illinois and keep Dodge Durango production in Detroit.

The week before the company had announced plans for indefinite layoffs “across its footprint” and the firing of its “supplemental workers” but refused to give specifics.

It has already laid off 1,100 workers at its Warren Assembly plant.

The UAW action comes after an announcement by the union that it would hold a company-wide strike vote by Stellantis workers demanding that the company abide by the contract won last year after a six-week strike.

Of course, the auto company executives and their government minions blame Socialist China and its so-called “over capacity” for these massive job losses and broken promises.

EV crisis at capitalist auto companies.

It’s not just Stellantis that is facing this deepening crisis.

In September, the German company Volkswagen announced plans to lay off 30,000 of its 300,000 workers. VW’s software subsidiary is laying off 2,000 workers over the next two years.

Mercedes Benz is laying off workers in Seattle, Washington and London. ZF Friedrichshafen, a major parts supplier to 55 auto brands, announced it would lay off 12,000 of its workers, while another supplier, Bosch, announced that it was cutting 1,200 jobs.

Continue reading Imperialism fails to quash China’s EV revolution

75 years of progress!

Writing in his regular blog, on September 29, Chris Nash, the Chair of the Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding (SACU), who has lived in China, working in the education sector, for the last 10 years, provided a snapshot of various aspects of China’s progress since the founding of the People’s Republic 75 years ago.

In economics, he notes that in 1949 China accounted for just 4% of Global GDP, whereas today it accounts for 19% and moreover is actively fuelling global growth, especially in other developing countries and emerging markets. 

He goes on to explain that “economic growth must be balanced with environmental sustainability. Drawing on deeply embedded cultural ideas of ‘harmony’, China has energetically followed policies that are healing and sustaining eco-systems across the whole country. In my travels all over the country in the last ten years I have seen none of the environmental pollution that used to be presented as the image of rural China. Instead, I have seen landscapes of profound beauty, which are loved and cared for by local populations engaged in their care and preservation.”

With concrete and vivid examples, Chris highlights some of China’s achievements in biodiversity sustainability as well as in the protection of eco-systems and vulnerable species.

On education, he recalls that, in 1949, there was 80% illiteracy in China, but now, a financial aid system covering students from pre-school to postgraduate level has been established, ensuring that no student from a disadvantaged background is forced to drop out because of financial difficulties.

He emphasises: “These are only snapshots from the remarkable journey of the last 75 years in China. What is important to note is that these 75 years of progress have made, and continue to make, international contributions, not just narrow national ones… think of the likely future benefits as China enters the next phase of its modernisation, led by a mission to ‘build a community of shared future for humankind and to achieve shared and win-win development.’”

We reprint the full text of Chris’s article below. It was originally published on the SACU website.

Starting this weekend the people of Beijing and visitors to the city will be able to experience a spectacular light show. Over 2,800 sites across the capital will be bathed in glorious illumination bringing their nocturnal beauty to full expression. This weekend also sees the opening of the National Day holiday all across China. This holiday takes place from October 1st to October 7th every year. It is often called ‘Golden Week’ and it is an annual celebration of the inauguration of New China on October 1st 1949. Those of you who are good at Maths will have worked out that 2024 is then the 75th anniversary celebration. Therefore in this article I want to talk to you about some of the progress China has made over this period, because it not only remarkable but of global importance to us all.

Let’s start with the economics. Up until the middle of the nineteenth century China had the largest and most successful economy in the world. The problems of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries had a devastating effect on the lives of the Chinese people. In 1949 China only produced 4% of global GDP. Over 80% of the population worked in agriculture but the country was not self-sufficient in food. In 1949 China produced only 7.9 kwh of electricity per head of capita compared to 1144.6 kwh per capita in America, 141 times greater. In 1949, the average life expectancy in China was only 35 years. It is against baseline figures like these that the remarkable progress of China over the last 75 years can be measured.

China today accounts for almost 19 percent of the global GDP. China’s progress has brought benefits across the developing world. Until the 1990s, the developing world was dependent on the West for many things. But by 2007, large emerging economies, spearheaded by China, were driving global growth, while the advanced Western economies’ growth had slowed down. As a result, the impact of the Chinese economy on low and middle-income economies soared, with development projects such as the Belt and Road Initiative and multilateral financial institutions supported by countries including China such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and New Development Bank helping boost growth in many emerging and developing economies. In this way, China has been fuelling global growth.

One of the key lessons of the modern era is that economic growth must be balanced with environmental sustainability. Drawing on deeply embedded cultural ideas of ‘harmony’, China has energetically followed policies that are healing and sustaining eco-systems across the whole country. In my travels all over the country in the last ten years I have seen none of the environmental pollution that used to be presented as the image of rural China. Instead I have seen landscapes of profound beauty, which are loved and cared for by local populations engaged in their care and preservation. In Dali, Yunnan Province, a community leader, took me to the exact spot next to Lake Erhai where President Xi had stood and told local hotel owners who had started to make greater and greater profits from the growth of tourism, that they had to take down their lucrative hotels on the shoreline because they were damaging the water quality in the lake.

Over the last 75 years Chinese scientists have made significant contributions to the world in the realm of conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. For example, China has increased the population of giant pandas by establishing nature reserves and succeeding in artificially breeding them. Yuan Longping, a famous rice breeding expert in China who made outstanding contributions to the world’s food security, developed the first strain of hybrid rice in 1970 by crossing the sterile plants of wild rice found in Hainan with cultivars. Tu Youyou, a Chinese female pharmacist, won the Nobel Prize for her discovery of artemisinin, a drug that that helped save millions of lives from the threat of malaria globally, especially in developing countries.

China has established a system of national parks that are making enormous contributions to protecting eco-systems and vulnerable species. The Tibetan antelope, the flagship species at the Three-River-Source National Park, has increased to over 70,000. The snow leopard population has recovered to over 1,200, and the populations of Northeast tigers and leopards in the national park have grown from the initial 27 and 42 at the pilot stage, respectively, to around 70 and 80. The wild population of the Hainan gibbon, the flagship species at the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park, has increased from fewer than 10 in two groups 40 years ago to 42 in seven groups. And in a remarkable story of international co-operation, the World Wild Life Fund, the Chinese Government and local people in the Yangtze River area have worked together to rescue the Yangtze Finless Porpoise that had been declared extinct. A survey in 2023 found a 23% increase in the population. It is hoped that lessons learned from preserving this river species can now be applied globally to rescue five other river Dolphins vulnerable to extinction.

Finally, in our quick tour through 75 years of achievements in China, let’s focus on education. In 1949 astonishingly, there was an 80% illiteracy rate in China. Education became an immediate priority for the new government. In 1952, 1956 and 1958, the Chinese government repeatedly launched free literacy-education campaigns, which were responded to enthusiastically by 150 million participants. As late as 1978, only 60 per cent of primary school pupils went on to study in junior high schools. Now school completion rates are in the high 90% range. There are 9,752 secondary vocational education schools, with a total of 17.847 million students enrolled. A financial aid system covering students from pre-school to postgraduate level has been established, ensuring that no student from a disadvantaged background is forced to drop out because of financial difficulties. This national focus on education has also benefited university education. China’s universities have been edging up the world university rankings, with more making it to the top 100, and some 100 disciplines making it to the world’s top 1,000.  There are now 7 Chinese universities in the World top 100 ranking. For the first time this year, as my Chinese students are studying to gain entrance to western universities, our campus is now hosting international students studying to gain entrance to elite universities in Beijing.

These are only snapshots from the remarkable journey of the last 75 years in China. What is important to note is that these 75 years of progress have made, and continue to make, international contributions, not just narrow national ones. For example, figures from the United Nations show that China’s sustained commitment to poverty reduction over this period has resulted in an over 70% global reduction in poverty rates. It is China’s expertise in manufacturing, supplying and installing highly efficient photo-voltaic solar power technology that is enabling the world to transition to cleaner alternative energy. In the first four months of 2024 alone, 43% of China’s photo voltaic cell production was exported to Europe. History shows us long eras of peaceful co-operation between China and the world, dwarfing any periods of rivalry and competition. The next time you use something as ordinary as a wheelbarrow, remind yourself this was a Chinese invention of an earlier time, which spread to the world across ancient trade routes. And think of the likely future benefits as China enters the next phase of its modernisation, led by a mission to ‘build a community of shared futures for humankind and to achieve shared and win-win development.’

China at the forefront of the green energy revolution

The following article by Carlos Martinez, written for the journal Communist Review, describes China’s progress in the field of environmental protection and sustainable development.

The article gives a brief overview of the science around climate change, and introduces China’s long-term strategy of building an ecological civilisation. It goes on to give a detailed description of China’s remarkable trajectory in renewable energy and green transport, as well as afforestation and biodiversity protection.

Carlos notes that the fruits of China’s innovation and research are being shared at a global level, citing a Financial Times editorial saying that “when it comes to climate change, Beijing’s green advances should be seen as positive for China, and for the world”. Indeed China’s investment in wind and solar power has already brought costs down by as much as 90 percent. With the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) increasingly becoming a ‘Green Belt and Road’, China is supplying renewable energy infrastructure to countries around the world, particularly the Global South, providing an opportunity for many poorer countries to leapfrog the fossil fuel stage of development.

The article concludes by noting that China’s achievements in green energy are built on the basis of political economy:

China’s enormous investments have largely been made by state banks, and many of its key projects carried out by state-owned enterprises, according to strategic guidelines laid out by the government. This is possible because of the basic structure and planned nature of the Chinese economy. Which is to say, the fundamental reason China has emerged as the undisputed leader in the fight against climate breakdown is its socialist system.

Yet even in the capitalist West, “China’s example can be used to help create mass pressure to stop our governments and ruling classes from destroying the planet, and to encourage sensible cooperation with China on environmental issues.”

It is by now almost universally understood that humans need to transition away from fossil fuels and adopt renewable energy if we are to avoid catastrophic levels of climate change. As Hannah Ritchie, Deputy Editor and Lead Researcher at Our World in Data, says:

“Global temperatures are rising. Sea levels are rising; ice sheets are melting; and other species are struggling to adapt to a changing climate. Humans face an avalanche of problems from flooding and drought to wildfires and fatal heatwaves. Farmers are at risk of crop failures. Cities are at risk of being submerged. There’s one main cause: human emissions of greenhouse gases.[1]

The science is clear and widely accepted: human activity, most importantly the burning of fossil fuels, has increased the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to an unprecedented level. This has led to more heat being trapped within the Earth’s atmosphere (that is, less heat is being radiated back into space), resulting in a global heating effect, which leads to more frequent and severe weather events, rising sea levels, and shifts in ecosystems.

Data from the ice core record, going back around 800,000 years, shows that carbon dioxide concentration has fluctuated quite widely, between around 170 and 280 parts per million (ppm), with a previous peak at 300 ppm around 320,000 years ago. CO₂ levels have been stable at around 270 ppm for the last ten thousand years, until a significant upward curve starting in the early 1800s and accelerating sharply from the 1950s onwards.[2] At the time of writing (June 2024), carbon dioxide concentration is 424 ppm.

Greenhouse gas concentration will continue to increase, and the corresponding ecological problems will get significantly worse, unless we either reduce our consumption of energy to an extraordinary degree or we switch to non-emitting forms of energy. The idea of reducing humanity’s overall energy consumption is not plausible. For the majority of the world’s population, low energy consumption correlates to poverty; to low standards of living. Clearly, socialists hope that most people in the developing world, over the course of the coming decades, will increase rather than decrease their consumption of energy, and will experience a corresponding improvement in quality of life. As such, the only realistic option for preventing climate breakdown whilst continuing to pursue development is to undertake a massive global transition to green energy: to meet humanity’s energy needs without releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and without causing permanent damage to the environment.

Continue reading China at the forefront of the green energy revolution

Canada’s unjustifiable tariffs on EVs from China

The following opinion piece, written by International Manifesto Group convenor and Friends of Socialist China advisory group member Radhika Desai for CGTN, critiques the Canadian government’s recent decision to slap 100 percent tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs).

Radhika notes that the Trudeau government’s stated justification for the tariffs – that “China has an intentional state-directed policy of overcapacity and oversupply designed to cripple our own industry” – is pure misdirection. The real reason is to prove Canada’s loyalty to the US in the run-up to the renegotiation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. As for China’s “intentional state-directed policy”, “the most authoritative development economists will agree that there are no known instances of successful industrialisation where the state has not played a central role. This is as true of Japan or Germany or South Korea as it is of the US itself and even Canada.”

China’s government has intentionally concentrated resources on the EV industry for over 20 years, “particularly focusing research and development in making lithium iron phosphate batteries that were safer and cheaper than lithium nickel manganese cobalt batteries almost as energy dense as the latter.” The authorities provided further support by buying vast numbers of electric buses to provide low-emission public transport, and by building EV charging infrastructure throughout the country.

As for the oft-repeated trope about China’s “overcapacity”, Radhika writes that “if anything, the world needs more production of these things” – echoing the sentiments of former under-secretary-general of the United Nations and former executive director of the UN Environment Programme Erik Solheim.

Radhika observes: “What such complaints really mean is that there is a market for high-technology goods that is no longer being supplied by the US or the West, thus endangering their 200-year-old monopoly on such goods. Well, for all the crocodile tears Western politicians weep over the poverty and lack of the development in so much of the world, they do get mighty upset when one part of it, namely China, manages to develop and even push back the technological frontier.”

The article concludes by noting that the US and Canada, having followed the path of neoliberalism and financialisation for several decades, have precious little chance of success in competing with China on advanced manufacturing.

Three months after the U.S. announcement slapping 100 percent tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EV), Canada has followed suit. As local observers see it, the Trudeau government faced a choice. On the one hand, it could risk retaliatory tariffs from China on Canada’s much smaller economy: The memory of those imposed on Canadian canola, pork and soybeans worth billions in trade in 2019 in retaliation for Canada’s illegal arrest of Meng Wanzhou remains fresh. On the other hand, it could risk U.S. anger should China extend even part of its EV supply chain into Canada to get the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement access to the U.S. market. Such anger would be bound to spill over into the renegotiation of that agreement in 2026.

Canada chose to avoid risking U.S. anger. But that was not how it justified the decision. Instead, Canadian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland claimed that “China has an intentional state-directed policy of overcapacity and oversupply designed to cripple our own industry … We simply will not allow that to happen to our EV sector, which has shown such promise.” This justification is clearly cooked up.

Let’s take all the elements of that statement in turn.

The reference to “intentional state-directed policy” is a bizarre instance of trying to tar a virtue as a vice. The most authoritative development economists will agree that there are no known instances of successful industrialization where the state has not played a central role. This is as true of Japan or Germany or South Korea as it is of the U.S. itself and even Canada.

The right to pursue industrial policy was recognized by the erstwhile General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and is recognized by its successor, the World Trade Organization. Moreover, both the U.S. and Canada are themselves talking about industrial policy and state subsidies to sectors facing competition from China. 

As a study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology pointed out, China’s success in EV development is a classic case of a successful industrial policy. It began investing in the sector as early as 2001 when it became clear that its internal combustion and hybrid car industries were too far behind major manufacturers in the U.S., Germany and Japan.

Moreover, EVs would also have beneficial effects in reducing pollution and oil imports. Chinese authorities concentrated resources on this nascent industry, particularly focusing research and development in making lithium iron phosphate batteries that were safer and cheaper than lithium nickel manganese cobalt batteries almost as energy dense as the latter. They also began providing the fledgling industry with markets by buying its vehicles for public transport.

Nor was China at all autarkic. On the contrary, it invited Tesla in, giving it the same tax and subsidy treatment as domestic producers. Tesla extended its supply chains into China while also stimulating domestic producers to compete with it.

Next, let us come to “overcapacity and oversupply.” Since when did the production of low-cost and high-quality products, particularly those that advance the world towards its critically important climate goals, become a matter of overcapacity and oversupply? If anything, the world needs more production of these things. Canada, the U.S. and the West should join in the effort to produce such goods.

What such complaints really mean is that there is a market for high-technology goods that is no longer being supplied by the U.S. or the West, thus endangering their 200-year-old monopoly on such goods. Well, for all the crocodile tears Western politicians weep over the poverty and lack of the development in so much of the world, they do get mighty upset when one part of it, namely China, manages to develop and even push back the technological frontier.

As for “crippling our (Canadian) industry,” that’s pretty ridiculous coming from countries that have been sparing no effort – sanctions, tariffs, military alliance and base building, “freedom of navigation” and other military exercises, propaganda, fear-mongering and false “development” advice – to prevent the rise of China and, one might add, that of most of the developing world.

Finally, Freeland speaks of Canada’s own EV sector “that has shown so much promise.” Undoubtedly, the thing that countries like Canada and the U.S. ought to do is find a sector or product that they have the unique strengths to develop, as China did with EVs, knowing that it could not compete internationally on conventional cars or hybrids.

However, there is a big distance between “should” and “can.” Today, notwithstanding the corporate subsidies that the U.S. and Canada are giving to their manufacturers, it is unlikely that they will be able to replicate China’s success in manufacturing, not least because, as they have gone down the road of neoliberalism and financialization, they have lost the capacity for sustained industrial policy they once had.

Chinese scientists design new cooling material for buildings to reduce carbon emissions

The following article from Xinhua reports on an exciting scientific development: Chinese researchers have created a sustainable radiative cooling material with the potential to cool buildings by up to 16 degrees Celcius without consuming any energy in the process.

The article notes that “in a world experiencing rapid warming, effectively cooling our homes during sweltering summer months with reduced energy consumption and lower greenhouse gas emissions is crucial for meeting carbon reduction targets”. As such, “the novel aerogel holds promise for significantly reducing carbon emissions and energy consumption and paves the way for innovative and sustainable radiative cooling materials in the future”.

According to Victoria Bela in SCMP, “the biodegradable material can be welded together on a large scale using only water, creating planks that can act as a passive cooling material that will reduce the need for energy-hungry cooling methods such as air conditioning and refrigeration that risk undermining the fight against global warming”.

In this area as in many others, China is leading the way in scientific research towards a sustainable future for humanity.

The study is written up in Science.

In a world experiencing rapid warming, effectively cooling our homes during sweltering summer months with reduced energy consumption and lower greenhouse gas emissions is crucial for meeting carbon reduction targets.

A team of Chinese researchers has crafted an innovative biomass-derived material using DNA, the genetic blueprint of life. This aerogel demonstrates a remarkable ability to reduce ambient temperatures by 16 degrees Celsius on sunny days, even under intense solar radiation.

The researchers combined DNA and gelatin into an ordered layered aerogel structure that converts absorbed ultraviolet light into visible light to surpass 100 percent solar reflectance, yielding exceptional radiative cooling.

The adoption of biopolymer-based radiative cooling material helps mitigate environmental pollution, according to the study published on Friday in the journal Science.

Moreover, these aerogels, efficiently fabricated on a large scale through water welding, demonstrate remarkable reparability, recyclability and biodegradability.

This aerogel material is poised to revolutionize the energy efficiency of urban architecture as an outer protective layer, said the paper’s corresponding author Zhao Haibo from Sichuan University.

The simulation outcomes of the study have demonstrated a substantial reduction in annual energy expenditure in cooling for buildings across all modeled cities.

The novel aerogel holds promise for significantly reducing carbon emissions and energy consumption and paves the way for innovative and sustainable radiative cooling materials in the future, Zhao said.

China has committed to the dual carbon goals of peaking carbon emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.

Erik Solheim: China is the indispensable nation for the green transition

Elaborating on comments he recently made in an interview with Global Times about China’s supposed ‘overcapacity’ in green products, Erik Solheim has written a concise and powerful opinion piece on the topic for China Daily. In the article, Solheim notes:

China is now dominant in nearly all green sectors. The nation accounts for 60 percent or more of the solar, wind and hydro technologies produced today, as well as electric cars and batteries. China is the indispensible nation for the green shift.

He further points out that the level of commitment and investment that led to China’s dominance in green technology is exactly what is needed to address the climate crisis. “I may be naive, but I thought this was exactly what the world desires. Massive investments in renewable energies, bringing down the price, and scaling green energies to new heights to enable China to achieve its carbon peak target well ahead of the 2030 deadline.”

China’s investment and innovation has resulted in a dramatic fall in the price of solar and wind energy – of at least 80 percent in the last decade. “This is largely, but, for sure, not solely, thanks to China. I thought this was what we all dreamed of.”

The author calls on the countries of the West to stop complaining about China’s supposed ‘overcapacity’ and instead learn from China’s example – “Chinese ‘overcapacity’ in green sectors should be admired, not criticised”. The US and its allies should be ramping up their own efforts in green technology, competing fairly and working together with China and other countries towards a sustainable future for humanity.

Erik Solheim is vice-president of the Green Belt and Road Coalition and former executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme. He spoke at our event Building a multipolar world – Ten years of the Belt and Road Initiative in November 2023.

In March, I visited Wuwei in Gansu province. I had to keep pinching myself. There were solar panels covering the desert with only the horizon interrupting my view. China Three Gorges Corporation and the Elion Resources Group of Inner Mongolia, the companies that have established the solar farm, have also developed a lot of wind energy.

I may be naive, but I thought this was exactly what the world desires. Massive investments in renewable energies, bringing down the price, and scaling green energies to new heights to enable China to achieve its carbon peak target well ahead of the 2030 deadline.

The visit of United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to Beijing around the same time, prompted me to think differently. From the US’ perspective, the massive Chinese roll out of green technologies is not an enormous service to the world, but instead a problem. In Yellen’s view, China has overcapacity in the green sector.

But how can that be a problem?

I recall vividly when we left the climate talks in Copenhagen in 2009, some environmentalists were desperate, they saw almost no solution. Yes, former US president Barack Obama was there with then Chinese premier Wen Jiabao, along with German chancellor Angela Merkel, prime minister Manmohan Singh of India and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. But the outcomes were meager.

What no one contemplated departing from Copenhagen was that the price of solar energy would fall almost 80 percent and that of offshore wind energy by almost 70 percent in the next decade. This is largely, but, for sure, not solely, thanks to China. I thought this was what we all dreamed of. Some governments, including the Joe Biden administration, have argued that we need a green shift in production and that it has to be innovative, at scale and cheap.

The argument about “overcapacity” is against common sense. Interestingly it is also contrary to all economic theories, starting from Adam Smith. My nation, Norway, has huge “overcapacity” in oil and in fish. We sell a lot more oil than we can consume at home and we catch a lot more cod and salmon than we can eat ourselves. That “overcapacity” makes it possible for us to buy cellular phones from the US, wine from France and electric cars from China.

No nation in modern history has benefited more from overcapacity than the US. In the middle of the 20th century, the US accounted for nearly half the global economy. The nation had overcapacity in nearly all sectors and it made the US very strong. Today Silicon Valley has an enormous overcapacity in digital products. If Silicon Valley only produced for California or for the US, no one would ever have heard of that little valley.

China is now dominant in nearly all green sectors. The nation accounts for 60 percent or more of the solar, wind and hydro technologies produced today, as well as electric cars and batteries. China is the indispensable nation for the green shift. It is possible to go green without China, but it will be a lot more expensive and thus much slower.

The West should get up early in the morning and respond to China’s lead by pursuing innovation and green competition. Protectionism is a race to the bottom. Green competition is a race to the top.

China invited Tesla to make its gigafactory in Shanghai, to bring a “catfish” into the Chinese electric vehicle market. It forced many smaller Chinese competitors to swim faster. It worked, and BYD, Geely, Xpeng, Nio and many others are now strong contenders. Tech companies such as Huawei and Xiaomi are also joining the contest.

The West should similarly invite BYD and CATL, LONGi and Tongwei, Goldwind and Envision to invest in Europe and America. That may tempt Western companies to run faster.

Last year I visited CATL. It is located in the small town of Ningde in Fujian province. It is the world’s leading electric battery maker, providing batteries to Tesla and many others. CATL was full of praise for Germany’s BMW who they repeatedly said had helped them off the ground, by being a demanding customer and sharing technology and expertise.

Such partnerships can be replicated, only with Chinese companies in the lead.

It takes two to tango. The West needs to respond constructively to the competition from China. China can also help this process, through dialogue and partnerships.

Of course all nations want jobs in their own country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched his “Make in India” strategy. French President Emmanuel Mac ron is concerned about jobs in France, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz with the future of the German car industry. It is highly unlikely that China will be able just to export green products from home. Chinese companies will be called upon to create jobs in Europe and America, in Africa and Asia. It’s great to see BYD investing in Brazil, CATL in Hungary and LONGi in Vietnam. We need a lot more of this.

China should also look favorably into companies complaining about a level playing field in the Chinese market. There is for instance hardly any outside wind power equipment makers left in China. Maybe they are not able to compete? But a dialogue to assure there is fair mutual access to markets, will calm the skeptics.

China was also responsible for 38 percent of the total global clean tech spending in 2023, investing an impressive $676 billion. Last year, China invested $890 billion in clean energy sectors and it added 300 gigawatt of solar and wind energy to the grid, that is 10 times the total hydro production in Norway which keeps all its inhabitants warm in winter, with plenty of electricity available for any demand.

Chinese “overcapacity” in green sectors should be admired, not criticized. But there should be a profound dialogue to make sure all nations benefit.

Biden’s tariffs on China: a trade unionist response

What follows below is a two part article by Chris Fry – a Chrysler retiree and former United Auto Workers organiser in Detroit – about Biden’s recently-announced tariffs on China, and how the labour movement in the US should respond to them.

Chris observes that these tariffs are fundamentally detrimental to the interests of working people in the US. Tariffs on medical supplies in particular “must be considered particularly bizarre” given that Covid is resurgent and that there are concerns about a new outbreak of avian flu.

Increasing tariffs on EVs from 25 to 100 percent will double the price of these cars, “placing them out of reach for most of our class”. The author cites an article from Foreign Policy magazine pointing out that “the winner of the escalating, zero-sum green technology trade war between the United States and China may well be climate change”.

Biden has made all sorts of promises in relation to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but, as part of an electoral strategy of out-Trumping Trump, “Biden’s climate promises go right out the window”.

In terms of an appropriate trade union response to the tariffs, Chris writes that “to continue to fight for high paying jobs for workers to produce low-price EVs essential to reduce carbon emissions, the union movement should consider a different view of socialist China and its vast green energy capabilities”.

Unions of course are eager to create and protect jobs; Chris notes that Chinese company BYD already has a factory in Los Angeles producing electric buses and, “unlike their European counterparts in anti-union southern states, the BYD plant’s 700 workers are members of the Sheet Metal Air, Rail and Transportation Workers Union (SMART), Local 105”.

Inviting Chinese companies to manufacture essential environmentally-friendly products in the US “could be a huge gain for both the union and environmental movement and link the two movements together. Finally, it could convert the dangerous ruling-class spawned hostility towards China into genuine working-class solidarity.”

The two part article was originally published in Fighting Words, the journal of the Communist Workers League.

Part 1

When Biden was running for office in 2020, he said that Trump’s tariffs on Chinese products increased inflation on the public and promised to reduce or eliminate them.

He did not.

Instead, on May 4, the Biden Administration announced a massive tariff increase on imported goods from the People’s Republic of China (PRC):

Tariffs on medical supplies must be considered particularly bizarre, as the population is still subject to outbreaks of the deadly Covid virus. And public health officials are increasingly alarmed by a new outbreak from the avian H5N1 flu virus which has infected dairy cows and their milk across the country. Many farmworkers who milk cows have become ill from this virus.

A June 3 Scientific American article reports:

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently recommends that workers on farms where H5N1 has been detected have access to personal protective equipment, or PPE, such as N95 respirators, face masks, goggles and face shields. But it’s only a recommendation, Lakdawala says.

In order to prevent bird flu from causing more infections in humans, Lakdawala thinks dairy workers on all farms should have access to and use proper PPE—especially face shields to protect their eyes. Getting workers to wear N95 masks while working all day in hot barns is unlikely, she notes, but a face shield would provide at least some protection.

But in terms of the economic effects on workers and the oppressed communities, the most dramatic was the tariff increase was on electric vehicles (EVs), going from Trump’s 25 percent to a whopping 100 percent, doubling the price of the cars, placing them out of reach for most of our class.

And Biden tripled tariffs on Chinese-manufactured lithium batteries, going from Trump’s 8% to 25%.

The big winner from Biden’s tariffs: Global warming

A May 28th article from the Foreign Policy website describes these new tariffs from an environmental perspective:

The winner of the escalating, zero-sum green technology trade war between the United States and China may well be climate change. In the latest surge of election-year techno-nationalism, to protect and advance his green transition—and to out-Trump former U.S. President Donald Trump—President Joe Biden last week imposed a wave of new tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs), batteries, and solar cells as well as other Chinese goods, in addition to retaining all of Trump’s tariffs on China.

Scientists are already predicting that 2024 will surpass 2023 as the warmest year globally:

A May 7 CNN article describes some of the catastrophic effects of this on people around the world:

The impacts have been stark. Swaths of Asia have been grappling with deadly heat: schools were closed for millions of children in Bangladesh, rice fields have shriveled in Vietnam, and people in India battled 110 degree Fahrenheit temperatures to vote in recent elections.

Global ocean heat in April was also record-breaking for the 13th consecutive month. Ocean surface temperatures reached 21.04 degrees, the highest on record for any April, and just a fraction below the overall record set in March, according to Copernicus data.

The impact on marine systems is devastating. A mass coral bleaching event occurred this spring, which scientists said at the time could be the worst on record.

As for the U.S., the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has presented a grim hurricane forecast for 2024:

NOAA National Weather Service forecasters at the Climate Prediction Center predict above-normal hurricane activity in the Atlantic basin this year. NOAA’s outlook for the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, which spans from June 1 to November 30, predicts an 85% chance of an above-normal season, a 10% chance of a near-normal season and a 5% chance of a below-normal season.

NOAA is forecasting a range of 17 to 25 total named storms (winds of 39 mph or higher). Of those, 8 to 13 are forecast to become hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or higher), including 4 to 7 major hurricanes (category 3, 4 or 5; with winds of 111 mph or higher). Forecasters have a 70% confidence in these ranges.

In 2021, to pass his corporate-friendly Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Biden promised a 50 percent to 52 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (compared to 2005 levels) by 2030, zero net emissions by 2050, and 50 percent of all new vehicles being zero-emission by 2030.

Continue reading Biden’s tariffs on China: a trade unionist response

Developed countries must prioritise climate cooperation over China containment

The article below, republished from Global Times, reports on the high number of abnormal weather events this spring and summer, including unusually high temperatures in Northern China, heavy rainfall in Southern China, Hurricane Beryl in the Americas, and a series of droughts, floods and heatwaves elsewhere. “These scenes once again sound the alarm on climate issues for all of humanity.”

The author observes that “people generally hope that governments worldwide can work together to address the frequent occurrences of extreme weather globally”; that is, ordinary people expect their governments to pursue intense cooperation with countries around the world in order to tackle this existential issue. However, in spite of talking a good game on environmental questions, “developed countries such as the US and Europe have failed to fulfill their commitments in actual implementation”. Alarmingly, these issues seem to be increasingly sidelined in the US. The article cites Jeff Goodell, author of the book The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet, remarking on the recent presidential debate between Trump and Biden: “More time discussing golf than climate. What a world we are living in.”

Meanwhile, as China races ahead in renewable energy and other green technologies, the US and Europe are imposing tariffs and sanctions on Chinese EVs and solar power materials, the objective of which is to suppress China’s rise.

The author concludes:

Global climate change is a common enemy of all humanity. Countries around the world must work together, share responsibilities and take positive and effective actions. This is not only to protect our planet but also for the well-being of future generations. Only through global cooperation can we make substantial progress in addressing climate change, which especially requires developed countries to broaden their mind and take pragmatic actions.

Abnormal climate and frequent severe weather events have been a common experience for many people this summer. Recently, northern China has experienced prolonged high temperatures, while southern China has been hit by frequent heavy rains. Floods exceeding warning levels have occurred in 98 rivers in the Yangtze River Basin, the Xijiang River in the Pearl River Basin and the Taihu Basin, said the Ministry of Water Resources on June 30. On a global scale, since the beginning of this year, extreme weather events such as heavy rains, floods, heatwaves and droughts have frequently occurred in many places. Hurricane Beryl has intensified into a Category 3 storm and is making landfall in the Americas, while “deadly heatwaves are scorching cities across four continents.” These scenes once again sound the alarm on climate issues for all of humanity.

The latest Global Risks Report released by the World Economic Forum warns that in the next decade, the primary global risk will not be armed conflicts or social division but extreme weather events. For this reason, people generally hope that governments worldwide can work together to address the frequent occurrences of extreme weather globally. A survey report released by the UN Development Programme on June 20 shows that 80 percent of respondents globally hope for a stronger climate action.

Addressing climate change requires the full co-operation of the international community and both developed and developing countries need to fulfill their respective responsibilities and obligations. As early as 1992, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change enshrined the principles of equity, common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, recognizing the historical responsibility of developed countries for their emissions. However, developed countries such as the US and Europe have failed to fulfill their commitments in actual implementation despite having shown a positive attitude in international negotiations on global climate governance. This has directly slowed down the process of global green and low-carbon transformation.

As the largest global economy and most advanced developed country, the US plays a crucial role in the process of global climate governance. Especially, the commitments and actions of the US not only set an example for other developed countries but also bring expectations and confidence to the international community as a whole. Unfortunately, the US is the only signatory that has withdrawn from the Paris Agreement to date, showing significant regression in its stance on addressing global climate change, which has severely undermined the confidence in international cooperation on global climate governance. Although the Biden administration announced US’ return to the Paris Agreement in 2021, it is hard to hide the wobbly nature of US climate policy, especially under the highly politicalized landscape of bipartisan competition, where climate issues are not purely scientific topics but highly politicized ones.

It is worth noting that the importance of climate issues ranks far lower on the US political spectrum than economic, diplomatic, or even China-related issues. The recent first televised debate among candidates for the 2024 US presidential election was a prime example. Despite the New York Times emphasizing beforehand that “no election has more potential to affect the planet’s warming climate than the rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump,” the two candidates only devoted a very short amount of time to climate issues. Author Jeff Goodell, of the book The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet, expressed frustration on social media, perhaps representing the thoughts of most Americans: “More time discussing golf than climate. What a world we are living in.”

As an important player in the global arena, Europe also has room for improvement in its approaches to addressing global climate change. The EU has initiated several anti-subsidy investigations against Chinese new energy companies and recently, the European Commission announced plans to impose tariffs on pure electric vehicles imported from China starting in July. British scholar Martin Jacques recently warned in the Global Times, “What compromise will it finally reach between protecting European carmakers and prioritizing its commitment to decarbonization? Or, to put it another way, what role does it see Chinese EVs playing in Europe’s fight against global warming?” Such reminders not only question European decision-makers but also question Europe’s sincerity and determination in promoting global climate governance.

To push forward global climate governance, China has always been a firm activist. We are not only promoting sustainable development at home but also actively cooperating with all parties, continuously injecting stable momentum into global climate governance. China has exceeded its 2020 climate action targets ahead of schedule and will realize carbon neutrality from carbon peaking in the shortest time in global history. The green and low-carbon transformation that China promotes is not just a transformation at the technological and energy levels but involves the transformation of the entire social system, as well as the economy, culture, finance and other aspects. This is an important strategic decision and action statement made by China in response to global climate change.

Global climate change is a common enemy of all humanity. Countries around the world must work together, share responsibilities and take positive and effective actions. This is not only to protect our planet but also for the well-being of future generations. Only through global cooperation can we make substantial progress in addressing climate change, which especially requires developed countries to broaden their mind and take pragmatic actions.

EU tariffs on China: a script written in Washington

The following article by Carlos Martinez, first published in the Morning Star, comments on the European Union’s recent decision to impose tariffs of up to 38 percent on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs). The only enthusiastic supporter (and presumably instigator) of these tariffs is the US, which is embarked on an escalating New Cold War against China.

Carlos describes the negative reaction to the tariffs not just in China but within much of the European business community and among environmentalists. Ultimately, aside from likely inspiring reciprocal tariffs from China, the move will have the effect of “making the EU’s transition slower and more expensive” – in the words of a Chatham House article.

Carlos further notes that “imposing tariffs on the basis of Chinese public investment creates a precedent that any such central investment in sustainable development is unacceptable”, and as such, “would render any sort of green new deal out of the question”.

The article concludes: “For the sake of peace, development and the habitability of the planet, Europe must change course.”

Last week the EU notified Beijing that, following a nine-month investigation into alleged unfair state subsidies, it will impose new tariffs of up to 38 per cent on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs).

Given the existing 10 per cent tariff on car imports, this will mean Chinese EVs will be hit with tariffs of up to 48 per cent. These new tariffs are due to kick in on July 4.

Germany, Sweden and Hungary have been vocal in opposing the move, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stating the obvious: “Isolation and illegal customs barriers ultimately just makes everything more expensive, and everyone poorer.”

Of course, this reflects the importance of the Chinese market for German car manufacturers, who will be hoping beyond hope that the authorities in Beijing haven’t been studying the Book of Exodus and thus are not minded to apply the principle of “an eye for an eye.”

BMW CEO Oliver Zipse commented: “The decision for additional import duties is the wrong way to go. The EU Commission is thus harming European companies and European interests.”

This sentiment was echoed by a spokesperson for Volkswagen: “The negative effects of this decision outweigh any potential benefits for the European and especially the German automotive industry.”

Indeed there seems to be little enthusiasm for these tariffs anywhere outside the White House. The Bloomberg editorial board argues that “tariffs won’t bring the EU prosperity” and that the increased price of EVs will decelerate Europe’s green transition.

Similarly, an article for Chatham House — titled “Imposing tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles will make the EU’s transition slower and more expensive” — notes that the EU has a legally binding target of reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Meanwhile “decarbonisation technologies like solar panels, wind turbines and electric vehicles share a characteristic that sets them apart from other traded goods: when swapped for fossil fuel alternatives, they reduce the quantity of planet-warming gases being pumped into the atmosphere.” Such technologies “are needed in vast quantities, and in very short order, to give any chance of avoiding the worst impacts of climate change.”

It is noteworthy — and presumably not entirely coincidental — that the EU’s announcement came just a month after the Biden administration announced tariffs on Chinese EVs of 100 per cent.

In the case of the US, the material impact of these tariffs is virtually non-existent, given that Chinese-made models constitute just 2 per cent of all EV sales; and this in a market where EVs only make up 8 per cent of all car registrations (compared with almost 50 per cent in China).

The US tariff increase is simply an attempt by Biden to appear “tough on China” in the run-up to the presidential election. Donald Trump, not to be outdone on such matters, has promised tariffs of 200 per cent. As such, what we’re talking about is yet another component in the US-led new cold war on China, for which there is bipartisan consensus.

So it would appear the EU is acting in accordance with the strong recommendations (instructions) of Washington.

This certainly wouldn’t be the first time Europe has compromised its climate commitments and economic stability in order to participate in the US’s pursuit of 21st century hegemony.

In 2022, in order to punish Russia and to generate profits for the US’s domestic fossil fuel industry, the Biden administration heavily promoted sanctions on Russian natural gas. The result has been a major increase in US exports of fracked shale gas to Europe.

To get this gas from North America to Europe, it has to be liquified, stored at minus 70°C, and transported by ship. This whole process is extremely costly in both financial and ecological terms, certainly much more so than using existing pipelines running from Russia through Europe.

The European working class and progressive movement should oppose these tariffs on Chinese EVs and should resist the ongoing attempts by sections of the bourgeoisie to align Europe with Washington’s reckless foreign policy.

As noted in these pages in August last year, “major problems facing humanity require international co-operation — and China’s leading position in green technology makes co-operation in this field essential.”

China has raced ahead in renewable energy and electric transport because it has identified those sectors as being absolutely crucial for the future of not only China but the world.

As such, it has built environmental considerations into the core of its planning system and has targeted public investment accordingly. Rather than complaining about China’s investment in new productive forces, Europe should be following its example.

Imposing tariffs on the basis of Chinese public investment creates a precedent that any such central investment in sustainable development is unacceptable. This precedent would render any sort of green new deal out of the question.

Even the Economist acknowledges that “the potential gains to the West from a ready supply of cheap, green vehicles are simply enormous.” And, momentarily overcoming its Eurocentric instincts, it admits that Chinese cars “are not only cheap; they are better-quality, particularly with respect to the smart features in EVs that are made possible by internet connectivity.”

The article concludes that “if China wants to spend taxpayers’ money subsidising global consumers and speeding up the energy transition, the best response is to welcome it.”

Inasmuch as there’s such a thing as a sane bourgeois perspective, this is what it looks like.

In the words of former undersecretary-general of the UN and former executive director of the UN Environment Programme Erik Solheim: “China is now the indispensable country for everything green … And all historical experiences show that if you create closed-down markets and separate markets from different parts of the world, we will all be poorer.”

For the sake of peace, development and the habitability of the planet, Europe must change course.

Narrative of ‘overcapacity’ is a complete failure: former UN under-secretary-general

Interviewed by the Global Times, Erik Solheim describes the West’s accusations of Chinese “overcapacity” in relation to solar energy and electric vehicles as “a complete failure”.

From the perspective of combatting climate change, China is doing crucial work and blazing a trail that others should follow: “We have all called for many more high-quality green products from everyone, from China, from Europe, from the US, from everyone. Why start blaming China for doing what is expected from everyone?”

Solheim further notes that, from an economic perspective, accusations of overcapacity make little sense, “because what creates the foundation for trade is overcapacity… My nation, Norway, for example, is a big exporter of salmon… We raise and produce much more salmon than we can eat ourselves. Then we sell some to others. And then, for instance, we can import electric cars from China… We should not fear overcapacity, but we should turn it into a mutual benefit where everyone benefits from Chinese leadership in electric cars as they benefit from our production of salmon.”

Ultimately, tariffs will slow down the green transformation “because China is now the indispensable country for everything green”, given that “60 percent of all green technologies in the world are in China” and “when it comes to solar energy, maybe the figure is even more than 90 percent.”

Solheim also describes some of China’s contribution to sustainable development in the Global South: “I was living in Kenya for quite a number of good years. In Kenya, China has constructed the Mombasa-Nairobi railroad, which goes through some very vulnerable ecological areas. But it is the cleanest and most well-functioning transport system in Kenya. It’s an absolute, wonderful, green contribution to Africa.”

Erik Solheim is former under-secretary-general of the United Nations and former executive director of the UN Environment Programme. He spoke at our event Building a multipolar world – Ten years of the Belt and Road Initiative in November 2023.

GT: During your recent visit to China, you posed a photo of your morning run. What was it like to go for a morning run in Beijing? 

Solheim: It was absolutely wonderful. The sun was bright, the sky was blue. You could breathe in the fresh air. It was a nice experience and highlighted a contrast to 10 years ago when the air pollution was thick and the sky was gray. It’s such enormous progress in such a short time. There is more to be done. But China has largely won the war against pollution.

GT: In the same tweet, you mentioned: “Why doesn’t the world start competing and stop complaining about China’s green leadership?” They are complaining about China’s “overcapacity.” Do you think China has an issue of “overcapacity”?

Solheim: I think the narrative of capacity is a complete failure for two reasons.

First, this is exactly what we all have wanted. This is even what the Joe Biden administration in the US has called for. We have all called for many more high-quality green products from everyone, from China, from Europe, from the US, from everyone. Why start blaming China for doing what is expected from everyone? A few years ago, the West was complaining that China’s production was emitting too much pollution. And now they’re complaining that China is making green products.

Second, this is complete nonsense from an economic perspective because what creates the foundation for trade is overcapacity. If the US had no overcapacity in its industries for the last 100 years, it would not have become a great nation. It became great because it had overcapacity – it could produce for global markets.

My nation, Norway, for example, is a big exporter of salmon. Why? Because we have overcapacity for salmon. We raise and produce much more salmon than we can eat ourselves. Then we sell some to others. And then, for instance, we can import electric cars from China. One of the most valuable companies in the world today is Apple, an American company. Why? Because they have an overcapacity in electric smartphones. Otherwise, they would have just been in the American market and they would have been a small company. We should not fear overcapacity, but we should turn it into a mutual benefit where everyone benefits from Chinese leadership in electric cars as they benefit from our production of salmon.

GT: Are there any green cooperation projects between China and other countries that have impressed you? What are the positive impacts of those projects?

Solheim: Absolutely. Two months ago, I was in Bangladesh, where China had constructed a bridge called the Padma Bridge. It is a wonderful rail and road bridge across the Padma River. That one bridge increased the GDP of Bangladesh by 1 percent because it connects the eastern and western parts of the land. That is a wonderful support for Bangladesh.

I was living in Kenya for quite a number of good years. In Kenya, China has constructed the Mombasa-Nairobi railroad, which goes through some very vulnerable ecological areas. But it is the cleanest and most well-functioning transport system in Kenya. It’s an absolute, wonderful, green contribution to Africa. 

GT: Some observers suggest that the US doesn’t want to live in a world where the world’s foremost energy provider is China, so they’re making huge efforts to catch up and, at the same time, attempt to slow China down with initiatives like this “overcapacity” rhetoric. What’s your take on this view?

Solheim: I think there are two aspects to this view.

First, the US is deeply concerned about having a peer competitor, such as China. For the past century, the US has been the dominant global power, or the only dominant power in the world, and it’s not used to sharing that position. However, it needs to get used to the reality that China’s economy will surpass that of the US, and China will play an increasingly important role in global affairs. Additionally, the US doesn’t only need to adapt to the rise of China, but also to the rise of other powers like India, Turkey, Indonesia, and Brazil. The era of US dominance is over, and it needs to adapt to the change.

On the other hand, President Biden wants jobs for his people. It’s natural for him to be more concerned about American jobs than the jobs in Liaoning or Guangdong.

But we should also explore how the green energy boom can benefit everyone and how Chinese companies can invest in and be welcomed in Europe and North America.

For instance, Tesla was invited to come to China. China invited Tesla to a large extent to create fair competition in the electric car market in China. It helped shape BYD, Hongqi, Geely, and all the other Chinese brands. Thus, the US should invite Chinese companies to invest in America, shaping the competition in the American market. Then maybe American companies would be more cost-competitive as well.

GT: We are now seeing the US government raising tariffs on Chinese EVs, advanced batteries, solar cells, and other goods. What impact will it have on the world if the US government continues to exclude Chinese new energy products?

Solheim: It will obviously slow down the green transformation because China is now the indispensable country for everything green. 60 percent of all green technologies in the world are in China. When it comes to solar energy, maybe the figure is even more than 90 percent. If we want to go solar without China, we can do it, but it will be much more costly. When it’s more costly, it will be slower. And all historical experiences show that if you create closed-down markets and separate markets from different parts of the world, we will all be poorer, including the Americans.

GT: Do you think Europe will follow the latest policies of the US? From your understanding, how does Europe view China’s green manufacturing capacity – is it more inclined toward cooperation or vigilance?

Solheim: That’s obviously a similar discussion in Europe. I don’t think Europe will automatically follow the US, but there is a concern with jobs in Europe. China can help in that discussion in two ways.

First, making very clear that China is ready to invest in other markets where Chinese companies are, and to create jobs in Europe.

Let me give one example. Very recently, I visited Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) in Ningde, Fujian Province, the world’s largest battery maker for electric vehicles. A Tesla normally comes with a CATL battery. But the guys at CATL repeatedly told me that one of the reasons why they have grown so big was the support from BMW in the early days. BMW was a very demanding customer, it helped with technology and was a partner in the rise of CATL. That’s exactly what we want to see – companies working together across borders. And now when Chinese companies tend to have the highest quality and the best technology, they should work with companies in India, Africa, Latin America, and also Europe to share their knowledge and experience so that we can all benefit from the green transformation.

Solar power farms on plateau fuel China’s green energy revolution

The article below, republished from Xinhua, describes a remarkable story of ‘ecological civilisation’ in action, combining holistic ecological protection with poverty alleviation efforts.

Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, in China’s western Qinghai province, is host to the world’s largest solar photovoltaic power plant, with a generation capacity of 8.4 GW (which would be sufficient to provide energy to the whole of London). Nearly 3,000 meters above sea level, and exposed to extreme levels of solar radiation, it is an area that has experienced significant desertification in recent decades: “By the end of the last century, the desertification rate of the land was as high as 98.5 percent, making the solar panels installed here vulnerable to damage from the sand and gravel stirred up by strong gusts of wind.”

More recently, because photovoltaic panels reduce wind erosion on vegetation, grass has been thriving. Meanwhile, in order to maintain the grass and to prevent the proliferation of weeds, sheep have been introduced to the solar park. This has given a major boost to livestock cultivation in the region, with people in the surrounding villages now raising “photovoltaic sheep”.

The plant is thus “simultaneously generating electricity while making exemplary contributions to poverty alleviation and ecological conservation efforts.”

Amid China’s green energy revolution, the world’s largest solar photovoltaic power plant on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau is forging a unique development path, simultaneously generating electricity while making exemplary contributions to poverty alleviation and ecological conservation efforts.

In late May, greenness finally emerged in the yellow-gray expanse of the Talatan Gobi Desert in Gonghe County, part of the Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in northwest China’s Qinghai Province.

Yehdor, a 48-year-old herder from Xaghelesi Village in Tiegai Township, leisurely rode his motorcycle, driving his flock of sheep into the solar photovoltaic power plant owned by Huanghe Hydropower Development Co., Ltd.

Yehdor is no stranger to solar photovoltaic panels, or what he calls “blue mirrors.” In 2006, he received two of these panels through a government project promoting solar power among locals. Since then, the panels have become part of his essential gear, accompanying his tent and other necessities during his six-month-long shepherding journeys each year.

“I set up the panels outside my tent, and they charged during the day, generating enough electricity to power lights and other small appliances throughout the night,” he said.

“However, they are nothing compared to these,” Yehdor added, pointing to the solar panels arranged in a matrix across 4,000 acres of desert land, sparkling like a silver-blue sea under the sun.

More than 200 sheep, a mix of black and white, were spotted roaming among the panels. As startling as it may sound, these sheep have been tasked with protecting the blue panels. Their voracious appetite, once a headache for environmentalists, has now become essential for maintaining the smooth operation of the solar power station.

In 2012, the prefecture initiated the construction of China’s first 10 million kilowatt-class solar power base in Talatan. Today, covering an area of 609 square kilometers, this solar power base boasts a power generation capacity of 8,430 megawatts, making it the largest in the world, according to Qeyang, deputy director of the administration committee of the Hainan prefectural green energy industry park.

It hosts 91 energy enterprises, which include 63 solar photovoltaic power enterprises and 28 wind power enterprises. “Green energy is the signature industry of Hainan prefecture and our annual output accounts for 54.08 percent of the total energy generated in Qinghai,” Qeyang said.

At a deliberation with the lawmakers from Qinghai during the annual session of the National People’s Congress in March 2021, Chinese President Xi Jinping gave instructions to build Qinghai into a highland of clean energies, a destination of international eco-tourism and a source of green and organic farm and livestock products, stressing efforts on fostering a green, low-carbon and circular economic system.

The Qinghai provincial government, since then, has accelerated its efforts to pursue high-quality development of the green energy industry based on local conditions.

Currently, the total installed power generation capacity in Qinghai is 54,970,800 kilowatts, with clean energy accounting for 51,079,400 kilowatts, or 93 percent, of the total. Talatan is also witnessing drastic changes.

Located about 150 kilometers from Qinghai’s provincial capital, Xining, Talatan sits nearly 3,000 meters above sea level and is bombarded with intense solar radiation, which hinders plant growth. By the end of the last century, the desertification rate of the land was as high as 98.5 percent, making the solar panels installed here vulnerable to damage from the sand and gravel stirred up by strong gusts of wind.

Continue reading Solar power farms on plateau fuel China’s green energy revolution