Share new energy, say speakers

John Quelch, executive vice-chancellor of Duke Kunshan University, speaks at a forum on the development of new energy vehicles during the Summer Davos Forum in Dalian on Wednesday. (ZOU HONG/CHINA DAILY)

New energy development should be shared and the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment should be renegotiated for mutual benefit, said prominent industry experts and former top government officials at the ongoing 15th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions, also known as the Summer Davos Forum.

Their remarks come at a time when China, the world's second-largest economy, has been subjected to protectionist policies by its major trade partners, including the United States and the European Union, in the new energy sector.

Zeng Yuqun, founder of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd, the world's largest electric vehicle battery maker, said countries can benefit from new energy by sharing the industry chain.

He proposed what he called a sharing model. Companies can expand their production capacity intelligently, by installing it across the world — for example, 30 percent in Africa that boasts resources, 40 percent in China that has the most intense technology and investment efficiency, and the rest in the US or Europe, which have big markets.

"Through such a sharing model, all countries and regions would benefit and the geopolitical tensions like the tariffs would be left behind… Because, climate change and sustainability are so important for each one of them," he said.

Zeng said CATL has already taken some measures to diversify its overseas market share and is willing to share its technology with every country in the world, including those in the EU, South Korea, and the US.

The European Commission said earlier this month it would impose additional duties of up to 38.1 percent on imported Chinese electric vehicles from next month.

As the EU and China have agreed to negotiate, Wan Gang, former minister of science and technology, suggested that the EU should also consider renegotiating the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment with China, instead of going ahead with the proposed higher tariffs.

The EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment was reached in December 2020 to facilitate trade and investment between European and Chinese companies. Under the agreement, EU firms can get better access to emerging sectors like new energy in China. However, the European Parliament voted to freeze the agreement's ratification in May 2021.

"It is necessary for the two sides to negotiate properly to move forward together toward economic globalization. Renegotiating the CAI could be an opportunity," said Wan, who is also the president of the China Association for Science and Technology.

The Chinese authorities said at the Summer Davos Forum on Tuesday that given the current bleak global economic growth scenario, countries that prioritize maximizing their own interests without considering the interests of others, or even backtrack by promoting decoupling and erecting barriers, will drag the world into a vicious cycle of competing for a diminishing pie.

Wan said there is a "common consensus" all over the world on developing NEVs, and such a trend is unstoppable. "China will not slow down the development of NEVs just because of some twists and turns. China's auto market is already highly globalized."

According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, China exported 1.2 million NEVs in 2023, up nearly 78 percent.

Among such NEVs, around 30 percent are from Tesla's Shanghai factory, Wan noted, adding that a large number of the cars produced last year were from joint ventures of Chinese and foreign companies.