Bank of China pledges to end funding for foreign coal mining and power plants
- Lender is the first state-owned commercial bank to make such a pledge after recent Xi Jinping speech to UN
- Chinese president promised country would stop building overseas coal-fired plants
The Bank of China has said it will no longer provide financing for new coal mining and coal-fired power projects overseas from next month.
It is the first of the four Chinese state-owned commercial banks to make such a commitment after President Xi Jinping told the United Nations General Assembly this week that China would stop building coal-fired power plants abroad.
It said in a statement that it had recently drawn up an action plan to help China meet its target of reaching peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.
It will also reduce lending to high-emission industries and increase its credit support for green technologies, including those designed to reduce emissions.
The Chinese authorities have yet to clarify whether Xi’s latest pledge would include the financing as well as the construction of coal-fired projects, nor whether it applies to the private sector.