MADE IN CHINA

Beijing's dominance in clean tech could save the planet. Will it get to?

- Justin Worland

For attendees at this year's World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this image was on full display.

Inside WEF’s Congress Center, wealthy nations circled and lunged. U.S. President Donald Trump’s Greenland theatrics made him the loudest, but Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s well-received warning that middle powers must stand up to bullies made him the surprising victor. Outside, along the promenade, emerging-market governments—from India to Nigeria—clamored to have their voices heard, taking over storefronts with glossy displays and bigger-than-life branding.

China wasn't represented on the promenade, and the speech from He Lifeng, the country’s Vice Premier, didn’t dominate headlines. But his message is hard to ignore: China wants to be the world's stabilizer, a protector of free trade, and defender of the rules-based order. As part of that leadership, he said, China will provide the world with the clean technology necessary to address climate change—a topic barely brought up at Davos. “China will work with all parties to ... ensure the free flow of quality green products globally,” he said on Jan. 20. “We invite enterprises from all over the world to embrace the opportunities from the green and low-carbon transition.” Beijing sees itself as a central node in a transition to a new energy future—not so much for what it's doing to cut its own emissions as for its role making and selling the things that will advance clean energy around the rest of the world. China owns more than 80% of the global solar supply chain and produces more than 70% of the world’s electric vehicles. Its clean-tech exports reach almost every country.