New energy made affordable by China: ex-Nepal diplomat

China’s energy-efficient and innovative new-energy products have greatly reduced carbon emissions and made new energy affordable, particularly for marginalized people, Leela Mani Paudyal, a former Nepali ambassador to China, told the Global Times in an exclusive interview on Monday, calling for a closer cooperation between China and Nepal in the booming new-energy sector.

Paudyal, who was also the chief secretary of the Government of Nepal, gave a clear response to the so-called overcapacity rhetoric of the US-led West targeting the Chinese new-energy sector, particularly the new-energy vehicle (NEV) industry, saying that the allegation is “groundless.”

China’s increasing EV exports are the result of advanced technology and the efficient production of EV products, including lithium-ion batteries, Paudyal said.

He noted that “the cries to impose countervailing duties without any proof of China subsidizing car production, is against the principle of the open liberal market regime.”

“Manufacturing efficiency is the source of prosperity and sustainable growth. Discouraging efficiency and productivity goes against global prosperity and growth,” Paudyal added.

“Westerners espoused the open market regime as a panacea for economic development and prosperity. Now, they have failed to compete with China and are advocating increased tariffs on Chinese products made with open market principles... this hypocrisy and double standard must be exposed,” he said.

In 2023, a total of 4,867 NEVs were exported to Nepal from ports in Southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region, an increase of 842.04 percent year-on-year, according to a report by the Xizang Daily. Chinese brands such as BYD were the main exports to the country in recent years.

As of October 2023, BYD had opened 12 stores in Nepal, according to the Economic and Commercial Office of the Embassy of China in Nepal, citing The Himalayan Times.