The Chinese government’s fondness for coal power is not just a problem in China. It has become an international problem, given large Chinese investments in coal-fired capacity in countries across the developing world as part of the Belt and Road Initiative. Of all coal plants under construction outside of China, roughly one-quarter—or over one hundred gigawatts of generating capacity—have either secured funding from Chinese financial institutions and firms or benefitted from the use of Chinese equipment or labor. This is effectively double Germany’s total installed coal-fired power capacity.
