OIES Podcast – Fact and fiction of clean innovation in China

Podcasts - Oxford Institute for Energy Studies

In this podcast, Head of China Energy Research Michal Meidan speaks with Anders Hove, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute, about the topic of clean energy innovation in China. They discuss the factors that have enabled China’s transition into an innovation powerhouse, including often cited government support and subsidy schemes, as well as less appreciated factors such as entrepreneurship and manufacturing hubs.

China dominates manufacturing of the main clean energy technologies currently scaling up worldwide, especially wind, solar, batteries and EVs – a situation that has pushed many advanced economies to adopt various policies aimed at catching up. For many years, advanced economies seemed to hold a durable advantage in innovation, while China held the advantage in low-cost manufacturing, but this distinction appears to have largely disappeared. As policy makers look at policies to promote manufacturing, the interaction between China’s clean energy manufacturing and innovation appears less well understood. Too often, China’s technology advantage is explained mainly in terms of subsidies and low costs. Anders and Michal discuss these issues which are discussed in Anders’ forthcoming paper, ‘Clean energy innovation in China: fact and fiction, and implications for the future’.