Chinese renewable energy and technology policies

Une analyse des politiques chinoises en matière d'énergies renouvelables, à la lumière de la plainte déposée à l'OMC par les États-Unis concernant les aides chinoises en faveur de l'industrie éolienne, d'une part, dans le contexte des politiques climatiques et industrielles à l'échelle internationale, d'autre part.

Présentation [en anglais] :

* China, the US, and the WTO
Chinese renewable energy and technology policies are under the spotlight. The United States Trade Representative accused China of violating WTO rules, and formally filed a complaint with the WTO on 22 December 2010, contesting a specific subsidy to wind power manufacturing. The United States has requested dispute settlement consultations with China, and if these consultations fail, a Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) will be formed to resolve the dispute. The purpose of this paper is not, though, to guess what the findings and conclusions of the DSB will be before it submits its final report, nor is it to say what these should be.

* Balancing push and pull policies
The balance between pull (supporting the production of electricity through renewable energy sources) and push (supporting the production of corresponding technologies) policies, both within Chinese renewable energy and technology policies: Legal compatibility with WTO rules & Economic interactions with other countries’ climate and industrial policies HIGHLIGHTS and across countries, is of paramount importance to create the necessary conditions for renewable energy support to really contribute to the global effort to reduce GHG emissions.

* China, France, and photovoltaic
The case of photovoltaic in France is a good example of what not to do. France put in place high guaranteed purchase prices for photovoltaic electricity, but did not implement strong enough policies to create and support the French photovoltaic industry. The results for this lack of balance in between pull and push policies are straightforward. It created a big trade deficit of 800 millions of euros in 2009, which amounts to 2% of the overall French trade deficit.