The writer is an FT contributing editor and writes the Chartbook newsletter Since the Biden administration passed the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, we have been worrying about a green industrial subsidy race. Talk about Chinese “overcapacity” has perpetuated that narrative. Competitive subsidies may entail a waste of real resources and taxpayers’ money. Tariffs on solar panels and electric vehicles risk spilling over into a wider trade war.
China’s green energy investment in photovoltaic technology, batteries, new energy vehicles and long-range ultra-high voltage transmission is the first to achieve the scale at which it truly begins to transform the economic landscape as a whole. In 2023, according to calculations by the CREA think-tank, green energy investment was the single largest driver of China’s economic growth.