{"id":406059,"date":"2026-05-01T03:45:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T03:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/406059\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T03:45:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T03:45:14","slug":"reliance-on-chinese-green-tech-poses-serious-risk-for-europe-experts-say-technology-sector","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/406059\/","title":{"rendered":"Reliance on Chinese green tech poses \u2018serious\u2019 risk for Europe, experts say | Technology sector"},"content":{"rendered":"

Europe is \u201csleepwalking\u201d into a series of economic and national security problems because of an over-reliance on Chinese green technology, according to experts.<\/p>\n

A report co-authored by Michael Collins, a former deputy head of national security strategy at the UK Cabinet Office, described the risks of depending on China<\/a> for green tech as \u201cserious\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cEurope risks sleepwalking into a series of economic and geopolitical national security problems because of over-reliance on Chinese low-carbon technology,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The report said Europe was heavily dependent on Chinese green technology, with China supplying 98% of the continent\u2019s solar panels; 88% of imports of lithium-ion batteries, which are used in smartphones, electric vehicles and large-scale energy storage; and 61% of imports of inverters, which integrate renewable energy with a power grid. Chinese EV brands are also increasingly popular<\/a> across Europe.<\/p>\n

The report said potential threats included China using \u201ckill switches\u201d to remotely disable solar panels, EVs or power grids. However, the report said such an attack was \u201cvery unlikely\u201d unless China was at war or near conflict, given the risk of inciting retaliation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe national security risks of dependency on China for low-carbon technology are not the same as dependency on fossil fuel imports \u2013 but they are serious,\u201d it said, adding: \u201cIt is striking how poorly recognised the risks and their impact appear to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report was commissioned by Loom, a non-profit organisation that focuses on economic, environmental and national security issues, and was funded by the New Energy Industrial Strategy Center, a US-based non-profit. It was co-authored by Michal Meidan, the head of the China energy research at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.<\/p>\n

The report claimed it was \u201cvery likely\u201d that China used green tech to conduct surveillance, such as using offshore energy infrastructure to track submarine movements or use audio and video captured by EVs.<\/p>\n

Supply chain disruption, whereby China restricts supply of low-carbon tech and components, whether deliberately or due to unforeseen events such as extreme weather, was described as \u201clikely\u201d by the authors. The prospect of China dependence creating long-term economic harm was characterised as \u201cvery likely\u201d, with the report saying Europe\u2019s industrial competitiveness would be eroded \u2013 as shown by Chinese dominance of solar, EVs and batteries.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere the west once led, China now dominates,\u201d said the report.<\/p>\n

It said a host of European industries could be affected by reliance on Chinese green technology, including car and wind tech manufacturing, with AI development also potentially affected. The defence sector also relies on many of the same components and manufacturing techniques as green tech, the report added, and as a result that industry could become more dependent on China as well.<\/p>\n

As China\u2019s importance to Europe\u2019s energy systems grows, it will be able to have a greater effect on the continent\u2019s ability to stand up to the country during disagreements.<\/p>\n

\u201cEurope does not want to be forced to choose between condemning and opposing Chinese activity in the South China Sea, or keeping their energy transition on track,\u201d said the report.<\/p>\n

It added that the relationship with the US could also make dependence on China problematic, because Washington could demand removal of Chinese suppliers or components<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Europe is \u201csleepwalking\u201d into a series of economic and national security problems because of an over-reliance on Chinese…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406060,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[273,111,139,69,147],"class_list":["post-406059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}