China moves to explore path to carbon neutrality goal

Following Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent announcement of a carbon neutrality goal, China’s environmental authority has taken quick action to explore the path to materialise it, shedding light on the country’s further commitment to green development and global combat against climate change.

China aims to have CO₂ emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060, Xi announced at the general debate of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Forward-looking policies

Xi’s statement has put forward higher requirements for China’s efforts to tackle climate change and seek green and low-carbon development as well as ecological advancement in the longer term, according to Sun Jinlong, Party chief of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), and Huang Runqiu, Minister for Ecology and Environment.

The goals should be taken as new opportunities to promote the transformation and upgrading of the economic, energy and industrial structures, promote the innovation of new technologies and new forms of business, and build an economic system featuring green, low-carbon and circular development, the two officials said in a co-authored article published in Guangming Daily.

They said the ministry will set carbon intensity target for the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025) in accordance with the targets announced by Xi, and draw up specific plans to tackle climate change for the next five years.

Low-carbon development

By the end of 2019, the country’s carbon intensity had decreased by 48.1 percent compared with the level in 2005, with its share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption reaching 15.3 percent, meeting the targets set for 2020.

To achieve the goal of having CO₂ emissions peak before 2030, the ministry will make corresponding action plans for the next decade to push local governments, relevant departments and key industries to take action and work together toward the goal.

The MEE will continue to control fossil fuel consumption, vigorously develop non-fossil energy, deepen energy and price reforms, form a strong synergy in the efforts to address climate change, effectively enhance climate governance capacity to achieve a “green recovery”, the article said.

China has piloted carbon emissions trading in seven provinces and cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, since 2011, to explore market-based mechanisms to control greenhouse gas emissions.

By the end of August, about 406 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emission quotas had been traded in the pilot carbon trading markets and the total transaction volume reached 9.28 billion yuan (about $1.39 billion), data from the MEE showed.

Based on existing experience, the ministry will accelerate the construction of national carbon markets, continue low-carbon pilot programmes and launch pilot projects for climate investment and financing.

He Jiankun, deputy director of China’s national expert committee on climate change, said by 2050, China has to build a sustainable energy system with new energy and renewable energy as the mainstay, and non-fossil fuels should account for at least 70 percent in the energy system.

China is now the world’s biggest investor in renewable energy, accounting for about 30 percent of the total global investment in the area each year since 2015.

China’s renewable energy generating capacity in the first half of this year increased remarkably, with the generating capacity of the photovoltaic power hiking by 20 percent and that of wind power rising by 10.9 percent over the same period last year, data from the National Energy Administration showed.

Global climate governance

If China were to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060, it would lower global warming projections by around 0.2 to 0.3 degrees Celsius, said a new study by Climate Action Tracker, a Berlin-based non-profit climate science and policy institute.

Looking to the future, China is expected to be more involved in global climate governance. The MEE, for instance, will make efforts to expand China’s exchanges and cooperation with other countries to address climate change and advance South-South cooperation on climate change.

In 2019, China introduced nine training programmes covering climate financing, low carbon technologies, and other major climate change topics. The sessions were attended by 230 government officials, experts, scholars, and technicians from 66 developing countries.

The MEE said China will continue carrying out training programmes while developing new projects based on the needs of different countries.

Nobel laureate Daniel Kammen said that China’s goals of having CO₂ emissions peak before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060 are huge steps forward, and he believes China has the capability to achieve the goal ahead of the set time frame.

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Foreign firms expand footprints in China amid swift recovery

While global investments succumbed to the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic fallout, international companies are upping their ante in China due to the country’s head-start in business recovery and unwavering commitment to opening up.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland, in actual use, expanded by 25.1 percent year on year to 99.03 billion yuan (about $14.78 billion) in September, the sixth consecutive month for the country to witness positive growth in FDI, official data showed.

A bevy of leading global firms like lift equipment manufacturer JLG, Uniqlo and Nestle have announced or made new investments in China this year, while many others reported robust earnings in the country compared with other regions.

“We have confidence in the Chinese market,” said Jack Liu, general manager of Goodrich Aerostructures Service (China) Co Ltd. “Given China’s swift economic rebound, the aerospace maintenance industry chain will quickly be rolling again.”

The airplane maintenance services provider based in north China’s Tianjin Municipality, a subsidiary of the North Carolina-headquartered aerospace products supplier Collins Aerospace, has seen sales revenue jump 17 percent in the first half of this year, while its workforce grew by 11 percent.

“We were able to tide over the COVID-19 crisis and attain revenue growth because we resumed our operations fast, despite the huge blow to the aerospace maintenance sector in the Asia-Pacific region and the rest of the world,” said Liu. The company fully restored business activities in early March.

Building on effective containment of the COVID-19 outbreak, China has rigorously advanced business and production resumption for foreign firms and domestic ones alike, ensuring the supply of epidemic prevention gears and slashing certain fees like social security contributions.

Official data showed that 66.9 percent of nearly 9,000 key foreign-invested companies had restored over 70 percent of capacity by late March.

“Having successfully managed the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic with the support of the Chinese authorities, Nestle has decided to increase its investments in China, which is another clear demonstration of our long-term commitment and confidence in the country,” said Rashid Qureshi, chairman and CEO of Nestle Greater China Region. The company announced new investments of over 730 million yuan to enhance its product portfolio in late May.

Under existing efforts like shortening the negative list for foreign investment and protecting interests of foreign firms based on laws and regulations, China has cultivated an increasingly favourable business environment.

With assistance from local authorities, Goodrich Aerostructures Service (China) Co Ltd was able to install autoclaves, massive processing devices that weigh almost 100 tonnes each, using about half of the average time it would take in the industry, according to Liu.

Local customs office has reduced the duration for entry and exit of items requiring maintenance from three days to a few hours, said Liu, adding that the improvement could save the company about one million yuan per year.

“We will increase our investments in China, since the country will take up a larger share in the global aerospace maintenance market as its economy grows,” said Liu.

Liu’s view was echoed by many of the over 100 US companies across sectors polled by the US-China Business Council in a survey earlier this year. Nearly 70 percent of the surveyed companies said they were optimistic about the commercial prospects of the Chinese market, and 87 percent reported no plans to shift production out of China.

China has pledged to open wider to the outside world during the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services concluded in September, announcing decisions to roll out a negative list for cross-border trade in services and further ease market access for the sector.

“China is wise to continue its opening up ... And the world has benefited greatly from China’s opening up,” said William Jones, Washington bureau chief of the US publication, Executive Intelligence Review. (Xinhua)