“Decarbonization is a key priority for both the Chinese government and European businesses, driven by corporate pledges, growing consumer demand, and stringent EU regulations. EU businesses are aggressively decarbonizing,” Klaus Zenkel, Vice President of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China and Chair of the European Chamber South China Chapter, said when releasing the European Business in China Business Confidence Survey 2023 (BCS) in Shenzhen recently.
He added that, regarding EU companies’ operations in China, 75 percent of members are actively pursuing carbon neutrality and over half of them aim to achieve it by as early as 2030.
“Industries which we are interested in are everything related to decarbonization, including new technologies and materials. European companies are interested in being present in the Chinese market for industries such as electric vehicles, as China is now very strong in developing them,” said Zenkel.
For example, he considers Shenzhen an opportunity for companies to do R&D because the city boasts the highest innovation output. “In the GBA, you have everything in one place: R&D, manufacturing, and financing,” he noted.
The Guangdong government has vowed to achieve high-quality development since the beginning of 2023, which indicates a shift in focus from quantitative economic indicators to sustainable and environmentally-friendly growth.
Zenkel believes promoting decarbonization-related industries through high-quality development is a good idea, as the province will develop a trillion-RMB project during the process. He suggested more support should be given to both the Chinese and EU SMEs so that they could assess these grand projects with multinational companies.
Author | Hannah
Video | Guan Jieming
Poster | Mia
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