At summit with 29 government leaders in Beijing, China’s president Xi Jinping proposed an “international coalition for green development”
China will seize opportunities for clean energy and boost science cooperation through its overseas investment strategy, president Xi Jinping said on Sunday.
Launching the first ever “belt and road” forum in Beijing with 29 government leaders in attendance, president Xi touted a $900 billion infrastructure push abroad.
He proposed to establish “an international coalition for green development”, support adaptation to the impacts of climate change and boost science cooperation.
“We need to seize opportunities presented by the new round of change in energy mix and the revolution in energy technologies to develop global energy interconnection and achieve green and low-carbon development,” said Xi.
The belt and road initiative targets China’s future trading partners and strategic countries along trade routes, seeking to boost economic growth and expand Chinese influence.
Sunday’s summit represents the latest Chinese move to own the globalisation agenda as rival superpower the US retreats into protectionism. It builds on themes set out in Xi’s pivotal speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos this January.
Report: China coal use fell again in 2016, solar capacity rose 82%
China leads the world in mass production of solar panels and other clean energy technologies, a growing export market. At home, mounting concerns about air, water and soil pollution have prompted a clampdown on coal mining and burning.
At the same time, it is the world’s biggest investor in coal power development overseas, which threatens to bust international…
