Thematic Report

Asia Pacific – Sustainable China

by Seungjoo Ro / Jun 13, 2022

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Riding the great carbon abatement

Just over a year ago, China made a roaring commitment to 2060 carbon neutrality. To some, it may have sounded impulsive or like it was succumbing to global peer pressure. In fact, the move aligns with President Xi’s economic transformation goals, initiated a decade ago. It is an opportunity for the dragon to capture critical leadership in the green tech/innovation space, blowing away its previous laggard status during the IT hardware upgrade-cycle. The flight to sustainability also gels with its long-term Beautiful China directives of common prosperity and “lush mountains and lucid waters”. We highlight 20 China/HK and regional players positioned to ride the green journey over the next 40 years.

 

Policies and stakeholders

Going from peak emission in 2030 to net zero over the following 30 years is ambitious, but we believe China can do it. With a strong unified sociopolitical system, it can efficiently and effectively implement policy across a vast landmass. Our CITICS policy team expects more sector-specific announcements in 2022, while cost inflation will moderate. Policy associated with the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) will shift towards the green transition outside of China, which will help scale domestic tech enablers. We also find strong sustainability support in our CRR proprietary survey of 2,400 Chinese consumers, which make up an important stakeholder.