President Xi declares end to Chinese support for new coal power abroad
China will end its support for new coal power projects overseas, president Xi Jinping told the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday.
For years, China has been the biggest public financer of foreign coal, particularly in rapidly-growing Asian economies, but has slowed down recently.
President Xi’s speech was translated as: “China will step up support for other developing countries in developing green and low-carbon energy and will not build new coal-fired power projects abroad.”
The announcement was celebrated by campaigners. Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air analyst Lauri Myllyvirta told Climate Home News: “This is a massive shift in China’s stance and leaves no international financing for new coal”.
Refinitiv analyst Yan Qin said: “This has long been expected. It was already in the April US-China climate talks. But it still sends a strong message domestically mostly, just like the stricter coal policy Xi announced in his Earth Day speech“.
Through its “belt and road” agenda, China has invested over $43bn of dollars worth of coal power projects since 2000, mainly in Asia and southern Africa. [Continue reading…]