UCLA Pacific Basin Law Journal

This short paper analyzes China’s new green energy cooperation. Its main aim is to describe the scope, characteristics, and key themes of energy cooperation programming. To do so, I draw upon a systematic review of China’s energy cooperation activities in Global South countries (building upon work in Harlan and Lu, 2022) and participant observation in three cooperation programs – two in 2023, and one in 2018. The findings reveal a diverse set of motivations of Chinese actors and organizations that are delivering cooperation activities, but also a shared focus on promoting China’s technocratic expertise and innovation in green energy. I then argue that, rather than view China’s energy cooperation efforts as “greenwashing,” a more effective response is to see them as openings for engagement and collaboration in advancing Global South sustainability transitions.