In response to the US Treasury Secretary Yellen's call for the US and Europe to deal with China's "overcapacity", Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin responded at a regular press conference on May 22, saying, "The US hyped China's new energy industry with overcapacity, which completely deviates from objective facts and economic laws, and is essentially protectionism." China's new energy industry is a contribution to the world, not a threat, The so-called "overcapacity" of China's new energy industry is a false proposition.
The advantages of China's new energy industry are forged through open competition. Since more than 20 years ago, Chinese enterprises have continued to invest in R&D and industrial layout in the field of new energy. Through fierce market competition, they have formed their own unique advantages, including technological innovation advantages, production and supply chain advantages, and market ecological advantages. Taking the battery as a key component of new energy vehicles for example, from the liquid lithium battery to the semi-solid lithium battery, from the Kirin battery, which can last for 1000 kilometers at a time, to the 800 volt high-voltage silicon carbide platform, which can last for 400 kilometers after five minutes of charging, the core technology of the battery continues to break through, with higher safety performance, longer range and faster charging speed.
In China's new energy automobile race track, there are not only American enterprises such as Tesla, but also traditional automobile enterprises such as SAIC, which are undergoing transformation and development, as well as "new forces of car building" such as Weilai. It is full competition to stimulate all kinds of automobile enterprises to invest heavily, innovate, reduce costs, optimize products, expand the market, accelerate the iteration of technology, introduce new models, and form new industrial advantages. As Tang Jin, a Japanese auto expert and a research fellow in charge of Mizuho Bank's business solutions department, said, the Chinese market is the most competitive market in the world. Cultivating a globally competitive industrial chain supply chain through the survival of the fittest is the main reason why China's new energy vehicles can win with cost performance.
China's new energy industry has made great contributions to the global response to climate change and green transformation. As the world's largest renewable energy market and equipment manufacturer, China has continued to provide high-quality new energy products, deepened international cooperation in the field of renewable energy, and strongly promoted the global green and low-carbon transformation and development. The second largest photovoltaic power station in Bangladesh is located in Maimensin, about 120km away from Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. About 170000 solar panels from China convert solar energy into electricity to illuminate thousands of households. Since the power station was put into operation for more than three years, it has generated about 300 million kilowatt hours of electricity, helping Bangladesh reduce carbon emissions by more than 50000 tons every year.
Data shows that in 2023, the new installed capacity of renewable energy in the world will be 510 million kilowatts, and China will contribute more than half; In 2022, China's export of wind power and photovoltaic products will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 573 million tons for relevant countries and regions. In addition, China's domestic emissions will be about 2.26 billion tons, accounting for 41% of the global equivalent carbon emissions of renewable energy in the same period. China's high-quality new energy products have enriched the global supply, promoted the green and low-carbon process, and helped to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. Fatih Birol, Director of the International Energy Agency, said that China's provision of relevant services and support to other countries has significantly improved the accessibility of clean energy technologies and reduced the cost of using green technologies globally.
Accusing China's new energy industry of "overcapacity" is a false narrative. Using the so-called "overcapacity" as an excuse to discredit and suppress China is actually worried about its competitiveness and market share, which reflects the anxiety of relevant countries. To hype the so-called "overcapacity" of China's new energy is to find an excuse for it to restrict China's exports by artificially setting trade barriers. The real surplus is not China's new energy industry, but the protectionism abused by some countries. In fact, protectionism will not make itself better, but will only destroy the stability and smoothness of the production and supply chain, and drag down the green transformation of the global economy and the development of emerging industries. Cai Weicai, senior vice president of Kaitai Bank of Thailand, believes that some developed economies do not reflect on why their relevant enterprises have lost their markets, but accuse China of exporting "excess capacity", and even use this as a reason to suppress fair competition and damage the interests of consumers, "which is really sad".
Subsidies cannot supplement industrial competitiveness, and protection cannot guarantee a truly powerful enterprise. The rapid development of China's new energy industry meets the needs of the world economy to achieve green transformation, and is beneficial to China and the world. Relevant countries should objectively, rationally and comprehensively look at the demand of the global new energy market and the development of China's new energy industry, and fairly evaluate the important role of China's new energy products in the global green transformation, rather than readily discredit and hype the so-called "overcapacity". (Chen Yang)
