Beijing forum focuses on financing global green transition

A scene from the Annual Conference of Financial Street Forum 2024 in Beijing on October 20, 2024. The three-day forum was held in Beijing from October 18 to 20, with officials, business representatives, and experts from home and abroad discussing financial opening-up, cooperation, and economic development. (Photo: Yin Yeping/GT)

Business representatives from home and abroad gathered at the Annual Conference of Financial Street Forum 2024, held in Beijing from Friday to Sunday. They discussed the importance of and opportunities for deepening global cooperation in the green transition and green finance, highlighting China's significant role in this effort.

Such topics were among the core themes of this year's forum. Industry insiders said that the developments reflect China's ongoing drive to further open up for cooperation in the green sector.

Speaking at the forum on Sunday, Bill Winters, group chief executive of Standard Chartered, said that he has been encouraged by the leading role that China plays in the green transition, mentioning the development of new technologies and their application around the world, as well as China's standard-setting in a number of critical areas both domestically and internationally.

Winters mentioned the importance of getting access to adequate financing to support the green transition of developing countries. China's leading role in developing technologies and exporting these technologies with associated financing is the key, he said.

China is also playing a critical role in bringing the world together in terms of understanding and setting standards in this green transition, Winters said.

Michael Mainelli, Lord Mayor of the City of London, expressed his expectations for all sides to seize the opportunities and tackle the challenges ahead, particularly in financing, where sectors such as chemicals, steel, aviation, and freight require huge funding to decarbonize their operations.

"We look forward to further strengthening our cooperation with China and other international partners to build a greener, more equitable, and prosperous future for all," Mainelli said.

"This forum was important as it addressed many sustainability issues, and it's crucial for us to understand what is going on in the world's second-largest economy and where it is heading next," said Abdulla Bin Sulayem, CEO at Seven Tides, a luxury real estate and hospitality developer based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Strengthening cooperation with Chinese companies and technologies "helps us, as a developer, to reduce our business costs and contribute to global efforts to combat climate change," Bin Sulayem told the Global Times.

Ralph Ossa, chief economist of the WTO, said in a video talk at the forum on Sunday that the event is a platform for critical discussions on financial openness, economic stability, and green transition.

"As the WTO, we see international trade as an essential driver of green transition. However, to fully support climate objectives, trade must be complemented by international cooperation on climate policies and green finance," Ossa said, calling for cooperation, not protectionism.

"In recent years, China has made significant progress in using financial services to support the green push… This is reflected in the establishment of a clear and overall plan for green finance, a comprehensive policy system, and a large-scale, well-developed green financial market," Zhou Yueqiu, chair of the Academic Committee of the Beijing Financial Street Research Institute, told the Global Times.

As of the first half of 2024, the balance of green loans in both domestic and foreign currencies had reached 34.76 trillion yuan ($4.89 trillion), and the total amount of outstanding green bonds in the domestic market reached 2 trillion yuan, according to media reports.

Zhou said that China plays an increasingly important role in global green finance cooperation. "With a vast scale of green industries, including photovoltaic systems, new-energy vehicles, and lithium batteries, Chinese enterprises present strong investment opportunities for global green investors," said Zhou.