China’s Cleantech Machine Hits Top Gear as Oil Markets Crumble

Chinese exports of clean technology, including solar panels, electric vehicles, and batteries, surged to a record-high in March as the war in the Middle East resulted in a major oil and gas supply shock that drove consumers and governments to lean more on renewable energy and EVs.

The export value of all of China’s clean tech exports surged to $25.77 billion last month, data by energy think tank Ember showed. This was 30% higher than the value of the February exports, and more than 50% higher than the Chinese sales of clean tech overseas in March 2025.

In solar tech alone, China’s solar exports hit a record-high of 68 gigawatts (GW) last month, double the February export volumes, due to the spike in energy prices and an additional boost from changes to Chinese tax rebates, data analyzed by Ember showed last week.

The value of the solar PV technology exports soared to $4.8 billion in March, more than doubled compared to $2.2 billion in solar export value in February.

China’s single biggest clean tech export last month was batteries and battery technology, whose export value topped $10 billion for the first time, up from $7.2 billion in February, the data by Ember showed.

China saw its lithium battery exports jump by 50% in the first quarter from a year earlier as global demand for green technologies surged amid the worst disruption to oil and gas supply due to the war in the Middle East.

Exports of all green technologies manufactured in China surged in March and in the first quarter, making Chinese clean energy manufacturers winners in the war-induced oil shock.

China’s exports of lithium batteries soared by 50.4% between January and March, compared to the same quarter of 2025, Wang Jun, deputy director of China’s General Administration of Customs, said at a press briefing earlier this month.

Exports of electric vehicles also surged, by 77.5% on the year in the first quarter, the official said. Chinese overseas sales of wind turbine parts and equipment jumped by 45.2%, according to official Chinese customs data shared by Wang at the press conference.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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