China is indeed the largest government funder of coal power projects around the world, accounting for 50% of coal projects that reached financial closure between 2013 and 2018, according to a new policy brief from Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center.
While that sounds like a lot, China’s contribution to financing overseas coal power plants makes up just 13% of the total when both public and commercial entities (policy banks, state, and privately-owned commercial banks and investment firms) are factored in.