Belt, Road green partnership to raise opportunities

Global accounting firm Ernst &Young said on Tuesday it anticipates increased opportunities in the low carbon technology collaboration and green standards establishment along the Belt and Road Initiative.

EY said the BRI green economic cooperation will empower the high-quality development of involved countries and provide new momentum for global cooperation.

"Over the past decade, BRI construction has steadily deepened. The green economy has emerged as a pivotal driver for Chinese enterprises to participate in international cooperation and competition. It also gives China the opportunity, in collaboration with other BRI countries, to collectively propel a 're-globalization' of the world economy," said Loletta Chow, global leader of the EY China Overseas Investment Network and leader of the EY Belt and Road Taskforce.

"In the future, balancing carbon emissions control and economic growth is essential. On one hand, Chinese enterprises can actively explore overseas opportunities brought by the export of China's green technologies. On the other hand, further efforts are expected to enhance the green standards alignment within BRI countries and drive the establishment of an innovative BRI green standard system," said Alex Zhu, energy and infrastructure advisory lead partner of EY Greater China.

Zhu said such efforts, while generating new growth points for Chinese companies, will also help BRI-involved economies with the green transition. "BRI economies, primarily emerging economies and developing nations, face challenges in green transformation due to limited green technology capabilities and high reliance on traditional energy sources."

According to the National Energy Administration, over the past decade, China has established government-to-government energy cooperation mechanisms with over 90 countries, regions and international organizations and expanded the BRI energy cooperation network with increasing efforts on promoting clean energies.

By late May, China's green and low-carbon energy investments involving the BRI have surpassed that of traditional energy, the NEA said.

The EY report released on Tuesday pointed out that Chinese enterprises have actively engaged in BRI renewable energy cooperation through various means, including engineering, procurement and construction projects, overseas manufacturing and investments as well as mergers and acquisitions by leveraging their experience and technological capabilities in the area.

In the future, Chinese enterprises will further leverage their advantages and form a collaborative network when expanding overseas business, harnessing each other's strengths and creating a synergistic effect, it said.

Roberto Bocca, head of energy and materials at the World Economic Forum and a member of the WEF executive committee, said China has played a remarkable role in expanding the production scale and advancing equipment manufacturing technologies in the renewable energy sector over the past few decades. These efforts have resulted in a substantial reduction in the cost of solar and wind facilities, ultimately increasing access to affordable electricity worldwide.

"This development benefits not only China but the entire global community. There are immense opportunities for companies to continue innovating, advance technologies further and enhance production efficiency in the renewable energy field," Bocca said.

The NEA data reveal promising progress in China's renewable energy sector. Non-fossil energy consumption in the country increased from 9.7 percent in 2012 to 17.5 percent last year. It said that China leads the world in energy efficiency growth, with an annual consumption growth rate of less than 3 percent, contributing to over 6 percent in economic growth on average in the past decade.

The country now boasts the world's largest electricity supply system and clean power generation system, ranking first globally in hydropower, wind power, photovoltaic, biomass power and under-construction nuclear power, the NEA said.

As of June, China's cumulative installed power capacity stood at 2.71 billion kilowatts, with the installed capacity of renewable energy reaching 1.32 billion kW, surpassing coal power and growing approximately threefold in a decade.