Chinese companies are accelerating overseas investment in clean technology manufacturing as domestic overcapacity, weak demand and rising trade barriers push them to seek new markets. A global manufacturing investment database shows that Chinese firms account for roughly half of overseas clean-tech manufacturing investment, with projects spanning solar, wind, batteries and electric vehicles.

Governments are increasingly demanding local production rather than imports, creating opportunities for industrialization but forcing countries to balance manufacturing ambitions against the urgent need for affordable electricity. In Africa, Morocco and Egypt have emerged as major investment destinations, while tariffs and localization policies risk making clean technologies more expensive and slowing the green transition.

Tim Sahay, co-director of the Net Zero Industrial Policy Lab at Johns Hopkins University, and Mathias Larsen, senior policy fellow at LSE's Grantham Research Institute, join Eric to examine China's overseas clean-tech investment, the drivers of manufacturing relocation, and how Global South governments can secure technology transfer, jobs and industrial development.

Show Notes:

• Net Zero Policy Lab: The Global Race for Clean Energy

📌 Topics covered in this episode:

• How Trade Barriers Are Reshaping China's Clean Tech Expansion
• Why Chinese Green Manufacturers Are Investing Overseas
• China's Clean Tech Overcapacity and the Search for Markets
• Africa's Balancing Act Between Cheap Energy and Industrialization
• Morocco and Egypt's Growing Role in Chinese Green Investment
• How Global South Countries Can Secure Technology Transfer

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