A senior policy analyst says China's dominance in green manufacturing should not be viewed as a threat and should instead be harnessed on a global level in order to accelerate the green energy transition.
John Pang, a senior fellow at the Belt and Road Initiative Caucus for Asia Pacific, was speaking with the China Global Television Network (CGTN) ahead of the 16th APEC Energy Ministers Meeting, which will be held in Beijing from Thursday to Friday. The high-level gathering is assembling energy officials from across the Asia Pacific to advance regional clean energy cooperation.
Pang dismissed the idea of the so-called "overcapacity" narrative, in which some claim China is producing far more green technology than the world needs, arguing the country is delivering precisely what the world needs at a time of significant change in the energy sector.
"We don't have a global 'overcapacity' in green energy, for example. And China's so-called 'overcapacity,' or rather its scaling of production in green technologies and renewables, is actually having a tremendous beneficial effect. It's enabling and creating the possibility of others," said Pang.
As the world is becoming increasingly disconnected, Pang also believes the debate over China's manufacturing capacity has been too narrowly focused on trade balances when it should center on building shared infrastructure and shared solutions to advance the green transition.
"So the [issue] we should address is that the green transition is unfolding at the same time as the global economy is becoming more fragmented. We cannot allow this fragmentation to stymie that growth, at least not in Asia. The question is how we can work together so that China's tremendous production capacity and manufacturing capability can be harnessed on a global level. As I said earlier, this is not merely about buying Chinese solar panels. We need to move beyond that narrative to consider how, at a regional integrated level, policy alignment, infrastructure connectivity and technological cooperation can advance the green transition and deliver green industrialization for all," he said.
The upcoming energy focused ministerial talks come as China gears up for November’s APEC Leaders' Meeting in the southern city of Shenzhen. This year’s gathering is themed "Building an Asia Pacific Community to Prosper Together" and marks China’s third time hosting APEC, following 2001 and 2014.
China's green manufacturing should be seen as global asset, not threat: analyst
