JPMorgan Sees China Leveraging Clean Tech for Geopolitical Gain

Photovoltaic modules at a solar power plant near Golmud, Qinghai province, China, on Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021. China is opening up its market for trading green energy, making it easier for multinationals from BMW AG to Airbus SE to buy wind and solar power and reach aggressive emissions goals. Photo by Qilai Shen /Bloomberg

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(Bloomberg) — China is likely to step up efforts to use its clean-tech transition as a pathway to economic and geopolitical dominance, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s global head of sustainable solutions.

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The world’s second-largest economy “is leveraging its early investment into green technologies not just for economic benefit but for geopolitical advantage as well,” JPMorgan’s Chuka Umunna said during a panel at the Bloomberg Sustainable Business Summit on Thursday. “I think we are going to see that more pronounced, how these issues play into geopolitics.”

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The point is that the “transition to a low-carbon economy and national security” are issues that “are coming closer and closer together,” he said.

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Mainland China dominates clean-tech production, controlling over 70% of global manufacturing capacity across major segments, according to a recent study by BloombergNEF. The country’s continued commitment to the green transition stands in stark contrast to developments in the US, where the Trump administration has axed most of the pro-climate policies promoted by President Joe Biden.

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Umunna said the US government is focused on achieving “energy dominance.” President Donald Trump’s public statements have centered on the goal of ratcheting up America’s energy supply by reviving the country’s fossil-fuel industry. But Umunna said the White House is also looking to other sources.

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“The administration wants energy abundance, and to achieve that, you need a kind of all-of-the above approach,” Umunna said. 

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At JPMorgan, the assessment is that the Trump administration is “incredibly interested in nuclear, very interested in geothermal,” he said. “The US Congress has a degree of bipartisan support for some of the different types of hydrogen,” which is driven in large part by the rise in energy demand stemming from the development of artificial intelligence, he said. 

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At the same time, Trump’s vocal hostility toward the green transition has coincided with a recovery in green stocks. After sinking about 60% between the end of 2020 and 2024, the S&P Global Clean Energy Index is up roughly 13% so far in 2025. 

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“It’s been a very tough ride,” Umunna said. “But it does look like there are some — at least short-term — signals indicating perhaps we’re now at an inflection point.” 

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JPMorgan, which earlier this year joined its peers on Wall Street in quitting the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, remains “one of the biggest green investment banking businesses in the world,” Umunna said. “We made nearly $1 billion in revenue from green transactions or green companies last year. So for our clients, as for us, this is a really big commercial offer.”

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Green stocks started to sink at the end of the pandemic, when inflation and interest rates started to rise. The development hobbled capital-intensive clean-tech projects whose growth models had relied heavily on borrowing. Those headwinds are now less of an issue, Umunna said.

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“Some of the things that have been an impediment for the onward march of green economy stocks, like the higher rates environment, supply chain issues, permitting and planning reforms, there are quite positive signs that some of that will be resolved,” he said.

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Even the likely inflationary fallout of Trump’s tariff war will probably be offset by monetary easing, Umunna said. That’s as JPMorgan’s analysts predict “a couple more cuts from the Bank of England this year,” and “at least another one” from the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve, he said. “So that should hopefully help green economy stocks.”

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—With assistance from Yinka Ibukun.

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(Reworks throughout to weave in additional comments from the panel.)

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