China-EU green ties set to expand

With Chinese exports of environment-friendly products to Europe booming and European firms scaling up investments in clean energy and smart manufacturing across the nation, green cooperation between China and the European Union is expected to thrive, said business leaders and observers.

They said such cooperation is increasingly driven by shared climate goals and complementary strengths, with China offering manufacturing expertise and clean tech solutions, while Europe provides market access, strong demand, innovation ecosystems and regulatory frameworks conducive to green growth.

Pinnacle Sports Products (Suzhou) Co Ltd, an electric scooter manufacturer in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, shipped 4,537 electric scooters to the Netherlands earlier this month, according to Nanjing Customs.

Europe's growing demand for green mobility solutions has created broad market opportunities for electric scooters that are lightweight, smart and cost-effective, said Yuan Di, the company's president, adding that his firm has exported more than 80,000 electric scooters, mainly to France, Sweden and the Netherlands, in the first five months of this year.

Chinese companies are not only exporting photovoltaic panels, energy storage systems and electric buses to European countries, but are also expanding investments in Europe, said Wang Zhimin, a researcher at the Academy of China Open Economy Studies, which is part of the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing.

In European countries such as Hungary, Serbia, Portugal and Germany, Chinese companies, including electric car manufacturer BYD, battery producer Contemporary Amperex Technology Co and home appliance manufacturer Hisense Group, have all built advanced battery plants, electric vehicle factories and next-generation eco-friendly home appliance manufacturing bases, said the Ministry of Commerce.

Wang said that these projects reflect China's commitment to supporting Europe's green transition and promoting sustainable development.

With many European consumers choosing EVs to cut both carbon emissions and fuel costs, Minth Group, a Jiaxing, Zhejiang province-headquartered manufacturer of exterior and structural automotive parts with more than 22,300 employees globally, has built 16 plants in Serbia since 2019, and focused on the production and manufacturing of new energy vehicle components, such as lightweight car bodies, battery housings and chassis structural parts.

"Serbia is not only a manufacturing base for us, but also a testing ground for China-EU collaborative innovation in green technologies," said Yu Ke, head of the foreign trade unit at Ningbo Minth Automotive Parts Research and Development Co, a subsidiary of Minth Group in Ningbo, Zhejiang province.

Ningbo Minth Automotive's auto parts exports to Central and Eastern European countries have surged to 210 million yuan ($29.23 million) between January and May, jumping 400 percent year-on-year, data from Ningbo Customs showed.

Beyond lowering household energy costs, Chinese investments are creating jobs and strengthening the integration of upstream and downstream industrial chains in host countries, said Lin Meng, director of the modern supply chain research institute at the Beijing-based Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.

Lin said they have fostered deeper industrial and technological collaboration between Chinese and European companies.

Buoyed by optimism about the Chinese market, many European companies are going deeper into the green economy as China accelerates efforts toward its dual carbon goals.

One such company is the French industrial conglomerate Schneider Electric.

"We have been supporting key consumer industries such as food and beverage, bio-pharmaceuticals, and electronics with our digital solutions and services," said Yin Zheng, executive vice-president, China and East Asia operations, Schneider Electric.

This enables businesses to save energy, enhance efficiency, and improve the traceability, intelligence and safety of their products, said Yin.