Click image for HiRes
Abstract
Drawing on Hao Tan’s recent book, China’s International Energy Relations: The Impact of Transition from Fossil Fuels to Renewables (Cambridge University Press, 2025) (https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/chinas-international-energy-relations/AFD2168ADB0E2BF9B4F91250BD18EA07), this lecture will examine how China’s shift from fossil fuels towards renewable energy is reshaping its economic and geopolitical relationships with the rest of the world.
The lecture develops an analytical framework spanning the firm, state and global levels. It explores how Chinese energy companies are adapting their international strategies, how the Chinese state is reconfiguring its energy diplomacy and statecraft, and how China’s growing role in renewable energy is influencing global energy governance. Bringing together perspectives from international business, international relations and sustainability transitions research, the analysis highlights both the continuities and emerging tensions in China’s international energy relations.
The lecture will also consider the implications for Australia. China’s energy transition is altering patterns of energy trade, investment and technological competition, while creating new opportunities and challenges for Australia’s renewable energy industries, critical-minerals strategy and broader economic relationship with China. The discussion will conclude by considering how Australia might respond to a rapidly changing regional and global energy landscape increasingly shaped by China’s renewable energy capabilities.
Click here to see all available video seminars.
Click here to go to the SPREE HOMEPAGE.
Brief Bio
Professor Hao Tan is Professor in Management at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC). Before joining UNNC in 2024, he accumulated over 20 years of academic experience in Australian universities. His research focuses on China’s energy and resource transitions and their global implications, with particular attention to industry dynamics and policy perspectives. He has published three academic monographs and more than 40 scholarly journal articles in ABDC A/A* or SJR Q1 journals, with his work appearing in Nature, Foreign Affairs and other leading outlets. He currently serves as Associate Editor of Technological Forecasting and Social Change and has acted as a reviewer for more than 40 international journals. Professor Tan also frequently contributes to leading English-and Chinese- language media outlets, such as South China Morning Post, Caijing, The Conversation, and Financial Times Chinese. He is a core member of the Green Energy Statecraft Project led by Professor Elizabeth Thurbon at UNSW Sydney.
