Chinese renewable firms advised to expand in US

Local renewable energy firm have been advised to increase their investments in the American renewable energy sector.

Wang Jun, head of the department of new energy and renewable energy at China’s National Energy Administration, encouraged the companies to take steps to increase their competitiveness by expanding their operations in other countries, especially the United States, during the recent China-US Renewable Energy Investment Forum.

Jun pointed out that the foreign companies including those from the United States are taking advantage of the low manufacturing costs and cheap labor in China and expanding their core manufacturing businesses in China, this giving them an edge over the other companies. These companies are among the leading energy equipment manufacturing companies like General Electric, Ceradyne and others. Several American solar and wind energy companies have landed several orders for building large-scale power plants.

During his address, Jun noted the immense wind energy potential that exists in the United States, both inland and offshore. Jun also recognized the fact that the potential expansion plans of Chinese firms in the US markets would face some resistance. The Chinese learned this valuable lesson from CNOOC’s failed bid for Unocal which it had withdraw after facing “unprecedented political opposition”. Chinese renewable energy policies is the latest issue of contention between the two countries. The United States government is investigating a complaint registered by the Steelmakers Union against subsidies offered by China’s clean energy policies.