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China and climate change

China and climate change
The latest news, analysis and opinion on China and climate change. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
Authorities announced on Friday China will cancel export VAT rebates for solar panels and lower rebates for batteries from 9 per cent to 6 per cent from April 1. The rebates for batteries will be cancelled on January 1, 2027. Photo: VCG via Getty Images
China exports

Goodwill or necessity? Why is China slashing solar and battery subsidies?

Analysts expect policy will signal to Europe that Beijing is interested in serious trade relations and is a good partner.

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Climate change

Opinion | How China quietly became the world’s climate policy leader

China energy security

China vows to ramp up west-to-east power as AI, hi-tech industries fuel demand

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Environment

As Trump taps coal to power AI, China moves on to clothe the world with it

A once-struggling Chinese coal city turns the traditional fossil fuel into nylon, manufacturing popular fashion from sportswear to lingerie.

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China is turning the fossil energy resource into nylon, spurring on its economy with the manufacture of sportswear and other popular fashion items. Photo: Xinhua
China economy

Opinion | Arguing about China’s overcapacity overlooks its drive for clean energy

What is often described as overcapacity is the outcome of a development strategy that treats energy as the foundation of economic capability.

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Science

US green tech retreat echoes mistake of China’s Qing dynasty before collapse

While Washington pulls back on climate, Beijing is making it possible for developing nations to leapfrog into a cleaner energy era.

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Mainland China

Video | Mapping China’s quest to green its deserts

In 2024, China completed a 3,050km green belt that surrounds the Taklamakan, the country’s second largest desert.

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China economy

Opinion | How China is cementing its central role as the architect of green tech

Beyond climate leadership and capacity building, China is rewriting its own energy system – and the global energy order.

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Climate change

Opinion | How Hong Kong can distinguish itself as a climate finance hub

The city should lead by directing capital to projects that modernise grids, electrify transport and accelerate green supply chains.

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Science

China desalination tech makes fresh water cheaper than tap water – plus hydrogen

Facility in Shandong province also produces mineral-rich brine for industrial use, achieving ‘one-in, three-out’ circular economy.

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China has figured out a way to produce fresh water from seawater for just two yuan (US$0.28) per cubic metre. Photo: AFP
Climate change

Opinion | Fashion industry must tailor climate plans to Asian suppliers’ reality

Efforts to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions in the fashion industry will not work if they rest on a Western design paired with Eastern sacrifice.

A worker holds a piece of clothing at a factory in Depok, Indonesia, on April 25, 2022. Photo: EPA-EFE/ADI WEDA
China exports

Waste to wealth: why China is building incinerators around the world

China’s economic slowdown has left its waste-to-energy sector without enough trash to burn. So, companies are heading overseas.

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Climate change

Opinion | How Cop30 laid bare the new geopolitics of climate action

Fractures, even among the Global South, show the energy transition is not just a technical challenge but a deeply political negotiation.

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Science

Nuclear tech milestone: China’s supercritical generator connects to grid

Supercritical carbon dioxide power system in southwest China is the world’s first commercial unit of its kind.

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The CNNC’s Nuclear Power Institute of China has been researching and developing supercritical power units for more than a decade. An experimental supercritical carbon dioxide heat conversion device is shown here. Photo: CNNC
Climate change

Opinion | China’s quiet climate leadership offers hope for Global South and world

The Global North is failing to deliver on its climate pledges while Beijing patiently lays the groundwork for a greener future.

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Climate change

Macroscope | What China, not the free market, gets right about climate finance

China’s central and local governments and state entities are willing to issue or guarantee green bonds on a scale unmatched elsewhere.

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Science

Why China’s mega coal-fired power plants thrive amid green energy boom

Gansu province is a leading source of solar and wind-powered energy, but cannot yet end its reliance on carbon-heavy power sources.

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Science

China overtakes US in medical research in science power shift: top publisher

Country is ‘now global leader in scientific publishing and output’, Fred Fenter, chief executive editor of Swiss-based Frontiers, says.

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In 2024, China accounted for half of the paper published in the medical field, according to an academic publisher. Photo: Shutterstock
Climate change

Outside In | Takeaway from Cop30: climate action needs to be up close and local

A focus on adaptation means a pivot to action on floods, typhoons, heatstroke deaths, wildfire damage – issues of immediate survival.

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Climate change

Opinion | A global green industrialisation initiative can have a ‘win-win-win’ outcome

China’s green manufacturing capacity could be aligned with the West’s technological and capital strengths and the Global South’s development needs.

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Climate change

Editorial | As the US sits out Cop30, China and others must pick up the slack

Technology and investment partnerships, especially among developing nations, could reinvigorate efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Indigenous leaders gather in the Cop30 Village during the UN Climate Change Conference in Belem, Brazil on November 12. Photo: Reuters
Climate change

Opinion | Can China balance green ambition with everyday ways of life?

If not managed carefully, China’s green goals could perpetuate environmental injustice, impacting biodiversity and people’s livelihoods.

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Sheep graze under solar panels on a hillside at Huangjiao village in Baoding in China’s Hebei province in 2021. Photo: AFP
China-Latin America relations

China refuses to back Brazil’s crucial rainforest fund

Beijing says wealthy countries should shoulder more responsibility as Lula prepares personal appeal to Xi at the G20 summit in South Africa.

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China-Latin America relations

Cop30: China to join coalition seeking shared rules for carbon trading

New alliance, which also includes the EU and UK, was created to align standards globally and help countries trade carbon credits more easily.

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China-Latin America relations

China joins support for Brazil’s Forest Fund but delays financial commitment

Brazil’s finance chief urges patience, saying Beijing wants a role in designing the new fund before pledging money.

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Chinese Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang (left) and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met on Wednesday in Belem, Brazil. Photo: AFP
Energy

China has a new champ in coal-fired power despite focus on renewable energy

Commissioning of Unit Nine takes Beilun Power Station’s total installed capacity to 7.34GW, the highest of any thermal power station in China.

The Beilun Power Station, in Ningbo, Zhejiang province. Photo: Handout
Science

Lead scientist of China’s thorium reactor project died working on the computer

Death of nuclear physicist Xu Hongjie came just weeks before the project he led achieved a breakthrough in fourth-generation nuclear power.

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Science

China reaches energy independence milestone by ‘breeding’ uranium from thorium

Chinese research institute confirms success of fission-based innovation that is poised to reshape clean, sustainable nuclear power.

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