China spends $546 billion on clean energy in 2022

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China spends $546 billion on clean energy in 2022

In this photo, technicians check solar panels in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province. China spent $546 billion in 2022 on clean energy investment, almost half of the global total, according to a report by SONG WEI.

The United States was a distant second with $141 billion, while the EU would have been second if treated as a single bloc, with $180 billion, according to a report from research firm BloombergNEF.

The report said that China contributed to the significant increase in clean energy factory investment, which is referred to as investments in manufacturing facilities for clean energy technologies.

It said that the investment rose to $78.7 billion in 2022, up from $52.6 billion in 2021. The largest share of the investment was made up of manufacturing facilities for batteries and related components, while solar factories attracted $23.9 billion.

Despite efforts from other countries to capture more of the global clean energy market, China accounted for 91 percent of manufacturing investments last year.

Antoine Vagneur-Jones, BNEF head of trade and supply chains research, said in a news release from the research firm on January 26 that the manufacturing capacity for clean energy technologies is unlikely to be the main bottleneck to achieving net zero carbon emissions.

The picture has not changed much from a supply chain diversification point of view. China is investing the most in building out its clean energy supply chain, and it remains to be seen if other regions can capture significant market share, he said.