, is to build up suppliers of goods such as solar panels in friendly countries, so that Western buyers are less vulnerable to geopolitical blackmail or other disruptions. The People’s Republic, for its part, is trying to avoid relying too heavily on Western technology.
Things would be different if China was the West’s implacable enemy in the way that Putin’s Russia is. But last month’s summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping suggests that a wary détente may be possible. In many of these, Chinese companies have strong positions. For example, they control more than 80% of all solar panel manufacturing and over 95% of the production of polysilicon which goes inside the panels.
that increase production of green products – simultaneously advancing the energy transition and diluting China’s strong position.there is an “opportunity to use trade as an instrument of inclusion” for poorer countries. The snag is that America is extremely reluctant to agree new trade deals. The best it can probably do is squeeze more out of its new Indo-Pacific Economic Framework and the EU-U.S. Trade and Technology Council.