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Going green? Chinese policy banks’ changing role in global energy development
(China Dialogue, 3 May 2022) Policy bank public finance for overseas energy projects hit zero in 2021. If lending rebounds, will we see a pivot towards renewables?
China’s policy banks have been some of the largest energy sector financiers in the world. But in 2021 they provided no new development finance for energy projects overseas – the first year this century without any such finance.
This striking finding, from our recent update to China’s Global Energy Finance Database (CGEF), managed by the Boston University Global Development Policy Center, could represent a turning point in China’s involvement in overseas energy development.
The world faces a gaping investment gap in energy infrastructure, so questions on the future nature of China’s support in this area are of global importance.
President Xi Jinping pledged, in September last year, that China will increase support for low-carbon energy development overseas. Does the slump in lending from policy banks belie a shift towards support for greener energy technologies around the world?
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