January 2022
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‘Panda Bonds’ to help fund Africa’s energy transition: China-Africa Cooperation Forum
China’s commitment to supporting Africa’s green and low-carbon energy transition was a highlight of the 8th Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which concluded on 30 November 2021 with a climate joint declaration. The Declaration on China-Africa Cooperation on Combatting Climate Change provides the shape of future partnership in the energy sector. On coal, it reaffirms President Xi Continue reading
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China’s Electric Vehicle sales reach record 2.9m in 2021
China’s electric vehicle (EV) sales rose by 160% to a record high of 2.9 million units in 2021, underpinning the first increase in overall car sales in the country in the past four years, reports Caixin. New-auto sales rose 3.8% to 26.3 million vehicles in 2021, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Sales of Continue reading
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China’s Antarctic Program & the Antarctic Treaty
Published 2022/01/17 On 4 January 2022 China’s CGTN media network posted a short video announcing that a team of Chinese scientists has arrived at the Zhongshan Station and the Great Wall Station to conduct the 38th expedition in Antarctica to carry out scientific research. In this post we provide background information on China’s Antarctic Program Continue reading
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China holds over 1,000 officials accountable for environmental violations
Over 1,000 officials have been investigated for environmental violations in four provinces, after receiving thousands of public complaints Over 1,000 officials have been summoned or held accountable for environmental violations as central environmental inspectors concluded their monthlong visits to four provincial-level regions, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) said. Inspection teams received more than Continue reading
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China-Iran to implement comprehensive cooperation plan for energy and infrastructure
China and Iran announced the launch of the implementation of a 25-year comprehensive cooperation plan following talks on 14 Jan 2022, between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian in Wuxi, east China’s Jiangsu Province. Cooperation between the two nations will cover areas such as energy, infrastructure, production capacity, Continue reading
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Indonesia to build “world’s largest green industrial estate” backed by Belt and Road Initiative
PT Kalimantan Industrial Park Indonesia (KIPI), a consortium of companies from Indonesia, China and the United Arab Emirates, is financing the US$132 billion project in North Kalimantan, Indonesia. Indonesian President Joko Widodo said will initially sit on 16,400 hectares of land on the island of Borneo but could be extended in future to almost twice that size. Located in Continue reading
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Top legislator urges improving eco-conservation legal system in China
BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) — Top legislator Li Zhanshu on Friday called for enhanced efforts to perfect China’s legal system for ecological and environmental protection. Li, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), made the remarks at a symposium on eco-environmental legislation, which was held by the Environmental Protection and Resources Continue reading
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Syria joins the Belt and Road Initiative
Syria on 11 July 2022 joined the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which will help the Middle Eastern nation create new opportunities for cooperation with China and other countries, to help rebuild amid wars, Western sanctions, and the Covid pandemic. Syria’s admission ceremony took place during the signing of a memorandum of understanding at Continue reading
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Nicaragua along the Belt and Road
This excellent article, republished from China’s Global Times locates the recent inauguration of Daniel Ortega for a further term as President of Nicaragua, and the increasingly close ties between China and the Central American nation, within the overall context of a resurgence of the left throughout Latin America. This is occurring in the teeth of intense US Continue reading
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Zhou Enlai’s Legacy and the BRI
Published 2022/01/15 INTRODUCTION Zhou Enlai was China’s first Premier, serving from the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949 to his death in 1976, as well as the People’s Republic first Foreign Minister, from 1949-58. The 46th anniversary of his death fell on January 8th. He is still remembered with boundless respect and affection by Continue reading
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China No 1 publisher of net-zero emission studies
CHINA SURGES FORWARD IN RENEWABLE ENERGY RESEARCH China has a clear lead in the publication of research over the past two decades related to the world’s climate goal of reaching net-zero emissions, a recent report has found. Its performance is also noteworthy in terms of patents that serve the goal. The conclusion was reached based Continue reading
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Why there are no urban slums in China
China has not seen the emergence of urban slums as in many capitalist countries, but instead, there has been a narrowing gap between urban and rural areas.The Chinese government is committed to rural revitalization and to reducing the urban-rural income gap and developmental imbalance. The attached article proposes a concept of “Neo-ruralism” as a way Continue reading
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Why there are no urban slums in China
Published 2022/01/13 China has not seen the emergence of urban slums as in many capitalist countries, but instead, there has been a narrowing gap between urban and rural areas. The Chinese government is committed to rural revitalization and to reducing the urban-rural income gap and developmental imbalance. The attached article proposes a concept of “Neo-ruralism” Continue reading
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The Logic Behind Shanghai’s Massive New Urban Plan
In January 2021, Shanghai mayor Gong Zheng announced that Shanghai’s days as a unified city were numbered. Instead of one sprawling city covering the entire municipality, Shanghai is planning to build five new cities within its boundaries, as the suburban districts of Jiading, Songjiang, Qingpu, Fengxian, and Nanhui are turned into what Gong termed “comprehensive node cities Continue reading
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Nepal’s Largest Hydropower Station Starts Operation
With the completion and operation of the Upper Tamakoshi hydroelectric power station, Nepal has not only resolved a long-standing problem of intermittent power shortages, but also realized the transformation from an electricity importer to an exporter. Nepal has begun to sell hydropower to India, which was once Nepal’s largest provider of aid. This has inspired Continue reading
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World ocean heat hits record high in 2021: study
Data collected for a study conducted by researchers from 14 institutes in China, the United States and Italy, published 11 January 2022 in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, has found that 2021 was the hottest for the world’s oceans in recorded human history. They researchers found that the upper 2,000 meters in all oceans Continue reading
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Chinese mathematicians model effects of toxicants on ecology of polluted rivers
Two Chinese applied mathematicians have developed a spatio-temporal model to help determine criteria for water quality necessary to maintain a healthy aquatic ecology. The model could offer the basis for effective decision-making tools for water and environment managers, and help develop future policy guidelines surrounding specific target species and toxicants. When designing environmental policies to limit the Continue reading
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The logic behind Shanghai’s massive new Urban Plan
Published 2022/01/12 In January 2021, Shanghai mayor Gong Zheng announced that Shanghai’s days as a unified city were numbered. Instead of one sprawling city covering the entire municipality, Shanghai is planning to build five new cities within its boundaries, as the suburban districts of Jiading, Songjiang, Qingpu, Fengxian, and Nanhui are turned into what Gong Continue reading
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World ocean heat hits record high in 2021: international study
Published 2022/01/12 Data collected for a study conducted by researchers from 14 institutes in China, the United States and Italy, published 11 January 2022 in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, has found that 2021 was the hottest for the world’s oceans in recorded human history. They researchers found that the upper 2,000 meters in all Continue reading
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Chinese mathematicians model effects of toxicants on ecology of polluted rivers
Published 2022/01/12 Two Chinese applied mathematicians have developed a spatio-temporal model to help determine criteria for water quality necessary to maintain a healthy aquatic ecology. The model could offer the basis for effective decision-making tools for water and environment managers, and help develop future policy guidelines surrounding specific target species and toxicants. When designing environmental Continue reading
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Clean household heating in northern China has environmental benefits: study
Many of China’s households still rely on small coal stoves for heat, which causes air pollution that damages health. To address these problems, the Chinese government launched a five-year “Clean Heating Plan” in 2017 with the goal of transitioning 70% of northern households away from coal and toward cleaner heating options. The plan is now Continue reading
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How will China control its methane emissions?
“Climate change experts are optimistic that China will begin systematically reducing emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas of which the country is among the world’s biggest emitters, but they say more specific measures are needed still.” Introduction: Actions in China’s 14th Five-Year Plan Long neglected, methane reduction received its first-ever mention in China’s latest Continue reading
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Eighty seven percent of overseas coal power financed by G7 and other advanced economies
A recent Boston University study published in July 2021 found that Japanese, Korean and Western financiers bankroll 87 % of overseas coal power plants globally, contrary to the misconception that most new funding comes from public financing entities in China. In fact, before China banned any new funding of overseas coal projects, China accounted for only 13 Continue reading
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Belt and Road spreads in US ‘backyard’ – Latin America and the Caribbean
Introduction The US has long considered Latin America as “America’s Backyard” – its exclusive neo-colonial zone following decline of European colonial powers. Since 1823, the “Monroe Doctrine” and US actions over the past 2 centuries to subjugate Latin America and the Caribbean, have made it clear that the US was, and still is determined to Continue reading
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Chinese solar researchers increase efficiency of solar cells
Chinese scientists have developed a hybrid cooling technique to reduce photovoltaic (PV) module temperatures by up to 12.86 C and increase power yields by 7.25%. “Researchers from Zhejiang University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China have developed a hybrid solar module cooling technique based on radiative cooling (RC) and the use of heat pipes to transfer heat”, PV Magazine reports. The scientists Continue reading
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High-speed rail cuts greenhouse gas emissions
China’s high-speed railway network has led to a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, a recent study has shown. The research found that the high-speed railway connection has led to an annual reduction of nearly 11.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gas emissions by replacing road traffic, equal to 1.33 percent of Continue reading
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China’s non-fossil fuel powered generation capacity to surpass coal in 2021
The installed capacity and proportion of power generated from non-fossil sources is expected to surpass those of coal-fired power generation for the first time by the end of the 2021 year. In the first half of 2021, China’s power consumption totaled 3.93 trillion kWh, up by 16.2 percent year on year, according to a report Continue reading
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Financing a green future, China in action
While maintaining an effective policy mix to spur green investment, #China is working towards a policy system that supports financing activities in a market-based way, and has made efforts to help developing countries cope with climate change and promote global efforts in green transition. To facilitate #GreenFinance, China has combined top-down and bottom-up approaches to ensure that the Continue reading
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Nature: recent scientific reports on climate change – Editor’s choice
Nature has prepared a package of 19 recent scientific reports on key aspects of climate change. “Climate change refers to a statistically defined change in the average and/or variability of the climate system; this includes the atmosphere, the 7 cycle, the land surface, ice and the living components of Earth. The definition does not usually require Continue reading
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China to become the world leader in safe nuclear power
China connected its first small modular nuclear reactor to its power grid, making it the first country in the world to draw power from such a machine, a report from Bloomberg reveals. China Huaneng Group Co.‘s 200-megawatt unit 1 reactor at Shidao Bay is connected to the grid in the Shandong province. The company is also developing a Continue reading
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China-Brazil cooperation in clean energy has broad prospect
December 30, 2021 SAO PAULO, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) — The first self-constructed and managed green field wind power generation program of CGN Brazil Energy Holdings Co., Ltd. (CGN Brazil) and Participations S. A. has started operation lately, with another wind power project started constructing on the same day. Photo shows the CGN Brazil wind power Continue reading
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China to become the world leader in safe nuclear power
Published 2022/01/07 China connected its first small modular nuclear reactor to its power grid, making it the first country in the world to draw power from such a machine, a report from Bloomberg reveals. China Huaneng Group Co.‘s 200-megawatt unit 1 reactor at Shidao Bay is connected to the grid in the Shandong province. The company is Continue reading
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Unlocking US Sanctions: China Signs Construction & Energy Deals With Cuba
Beijing is slowly unpicking Washington’s foreign policy, sanction by sanction, country by country. Sometimes, you just have to be patient. Cuba, the Caribbean nation long a thorn in the side of the United States since Fidel Castro took control of the island against US wishes, has managed to get around crippling US sanctions that have Continue reading
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China’s ‘latecomer advantage’ in achieving carbon neutrality
This article by Junfeng Li, of China’s National Climate Change Strategy Research and International Cooperation Center, points out that achieving carbon peak / carbon neutrality in China is a broad and profound economic and social systemic change. Achieving carbon peak / carbon neutrality is a broad and profound economic and social systemic change, and must be Continue reading
China Environment News 