Foreign firms mull shift to China's alternative-energy market
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Danfoss A/S, one of Denmark's largest industrial groups, is upbeat on the outlook for China's alternative energy sector, company officials said Friday at a press conference.
"At present, China is the third largest global market for Danfoss. I will try to make China our No.1 market in the next four or five years," said Thomas Koniordos, president of Danfoss China, which is involved in energy-efficient solutions such as solar-energy technologies.
Experts said growing numbers of foreign energy companies are turning to China for business opportunities since new energy deals in the US and Europe have encountered political obstacles.
"Foreign investors, who either have money or technologies, all want to come to China, which shows their confidence in the country," said Wu Changhua Friday, China director for the Climate Group, a London-based think tank.
The government is resolute in limiting energy consumption as well as keeping the economy strong. Wu said that from 2011 to 2015, the country will allow the markets instead of the policies to lead the effort to cut emissions, according to Li Junfeng, vice director of Energy Research Institute under the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planner.
By the end of 2010, China has vowed to cut its per unit of GDP energy consumption by 20 percent from 2005 levels.
Last month, China's electricity consumption was 340 billion kilowatt hours, or an 8.5 percent increase from the same period last year, data with the National Energy Bureau under the National Development and Reform Commission shows, which is significantly lower compared with the nearly 20 percent growth rate recorded in the first half of the year.
Li admitted that China has been largely relying on foreign technologies to help lower energy consumption and cut emissions.
