On December the 25th, 2015, 17 prospective founding nations, jointly holding 50.1% of the total shares, have approved the Articles of Agreement of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and submitted approval letters. Thus, AIIB was formally established. Greenovation Hub responds to the establishment of AIIB by offering suggestions on the Environmental and Social Framework of AIIB.

This alert will provide a brief summary of China’s investment towards Arab Countries, the environmental laws and regulations of Arab Countries, and the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) submitted by these countries. We believe that China will play a more active role in helping the region achieve its climate targets, and transition towards a green economy, if China could enhance the ecological and climate protection standards and concepts during their trade and investing under the “One Belt One Road initiative.

The green sustainable development under the framework of One Belt One Road has been increasingly attached importance to. In this issue we present the debates over the sustainable development of One Belt One Road and share the report Benchmarking the Policies and Practices of International Hydropower Companies- Stage 1: Environmental and Social Policies and Practices of Chinese Overseas Hydropower Companies, released by International River.

Southeast Asia is a key area of China’s foreign direct investment. According to the Ministry of Commerce latest statistics, in 2013 Southeast Asia accounts for 70.1% of China’s foreign direct investment flows, 67.7% of the stock. Among the top 20 investment destination by investment flow, 7 are Southeast Asia countries. In this issue we present the progress and challenges concerning China’s overseas investment and projects in Southeast Asia.

China should develop a comprehensive set of financial policies to limit investment in coal mining and coal-related industries and expand investment in clean energy and renewable energy in order to promote its energy transition and the peaking of coal consumption at 4.0 – 4.2 billion tons before 2020, according to a new study released today by the People’s Bank of China Research Institute and Greenovation Hub as part of the China Coal Cap Project, a joint initiative of academic, governmental and non-profit researchers.

2013 was a landmark for China’s outbound FDI, and for the first time it exceeded US$100 billion. Just 10 years ago in 2003, outbound investment was only US$2.85 billion. The total for 2013 represents an increase of almost 3,800% in just 10 years.
In 2014, China relaxed regulations for the management of outbound investment. China’s outbound investment is likely to continue to rise, and even increase, over the coming years.