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THE GLOBALIZATION OF CHINA'S COAL INDUSTRY: THE ROLE OF DEVELOPMENT BANKS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 November 2021

Bo Kong  and
Kevin P. Gallagher
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Abstract

This article examines the political economy of Chinese overseas development finance for coal fired power plants. In just over a decade China's two major policy banks provide more financing for overseas coal-fired power plant expansion than any other public financier in the world economy. We show how China's overseas surge in public financing for coal fired power plants is a function of a number of domestic push and foreign pull factors. Excess capacity, environmental regulation, and structural change are push factors that converge with rising demand for energy, pockets of coal abundance, and the lack of financing in Western capital markets for coal fired power plants. Fragmentation across the Chinese system and the demand for coal outside China's borders allow for a decline sector on the mainland to become a global Chinese powerhouse.

Keywords

Chinadevelopment financedevelopment studiesenergyclimate change
Type
Article
Information
Journal of East Asian Studies , Volume 21 , Issue 2 , July 2021 , pp. 219 - 235
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the East Asia Institute

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