Although China’s conventional auto industry has never matched that of nations like Germany, Japan or the United States, the nation has managed to outpace rivals in the production and adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). Last year, the majority of all the world’s electric cars were sold in China. China’s electric vehicle purchases exceeded U.S. sales by 2015 and in 2018, over 1.1 million electric cars were sold in the country.

China is leading a global shift toward renewable energy. For the third time in a row, China has ranked in the 1st place in EY’s Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index.

In 2013, Chinese president Xi Jinping announced the beginning of an initiative that he would later dub the “project of the century.” The Belt and Road Initiative is a massive infrastructure-integration project undertaken by the Chinese government to improve the connectivity between Asia, Europe and Africa. It effectively covers more than half of the world’s population and a third of the world’s GDP.

How is China balancing renewable energy development with urbanization? On April 24, the Yale US-China Forum brought stakeholders from every sector together at Yale University to discuss China’s clean energy future.

What is hindering the availability of public capital and financing options for distributed solar? To some in structured finance, it seems like a great fit: solar assets produce reliable cash flows, backed by the good credit of customers. Those leases can be pooled and traded as liquid capital. In order to profit from this great opportunity for solar growth, investors and consumers demand standards and consistency from the industry.