SHANGHAI - China's two main trade policy banks made no new overseas energy finance commitments this year, a first for this century and a sign that Beijing's pledge to stop investing in foreign coal plants is already in effect, new research showed on Tuesday .
The shift was highlighted in a new study of China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China project commitments last year by the Boston University Global Development Policy Centre.
The two banks had issued a total of US$234.6 billion in loans to foreign governments and associated energy sector entities since the year 2000, including US$75.1 billion since 2016 alone, far exceeding total energy sector lending by the World Bank over the period.Dr Han Springer said the figure could rebound after last year, and that there was a major opportunity to invest in global clean energy infrastructure.
President Xi's pledge meant that 99 per cent of global development financing was now committed to the transition to clean energy, Boston University said in a previous study. However, it was unclear whether his vow would also lead to the cancellation of projects already in the pipeline.