China’s clean-tech moment in Southeast Asia

China’s clean-tech moment in Southeast Asia

November 2026

China’s sustained investment in clean-energy technologies over the past decade is paying off. In 2025, its gross exports of clean-energy technologies exceeded US$165 billion, accounting for 50% of global trade excluding intra-EU trade.

At the same time, access to Western markets is becoming more restricted, with the US and EU introducing higher tariffs and other measures to protect domestic industries.

Against this backdrop, Southeast Asia presents a growing opportunity.

The region’s energy needs are rising quickly. According to IEA, if Southeast Asian countries deliver on their announced energy and climate commitments, solar generation could increase more than tenfold by 2035 from 2024, while battery storage capacity could grow more than 60 times from today’s level.

China’s technology and cost advantages and Southeast Asia’s growing demand may look like a natural fit. However, strong technology and market demand do not automatically translate into long-term success.

Technology advantage does not equal a social licence to operate

Governments everywhere are investing more into supply-chain diversification and self-sufficiency.  This is particularly true for energy, which is increasingly central to economic growth and national competitiveness.

As foreign capital and technology become more deeply embedded in a country’s energy system, scrutiny will inevitably increase.

The complexity also grows as companies move from selling products to building infrastructure.

A large energy infrastructure project may involve land acquisition, community relocation, foreign ownership and, in some cases, control of critical infrastructure.

Companies are no longer dealing only with customers and regulators. Local governments, communities, employees, suppliers, industry groups, the media and wider national-security interests can all become part of the stakeholder landscape.

For Chinese clean-tech companies entering Southeast Asia, market access is therefore only part of the equation. They also need a long-term social licence to operate: the ongoing acceptance and trust of the markets and communities in which they operate.

Build social licence into the business model

Social licence cannot be created by communications alone. Companies earn it through how they enter a market, how they operate, and the value they create. Communications makes that value visible and understood.

Every market and community is different, but there are several principles companies can follow.

1. Listen early

Stakeholder engagement should not begin after a site has been selected, and key decisions have already been made.

During market entry, site selection and partnership planning, companies should understand the government’s priorities, community expectations and concerns, who stands to benefit from a project and who may bear its costs.

Bringing these perspectives into decision-making early gives companies a better chance to manage risk before an issue becomes a public controversy.

2. Create tangible local value

A project should not only answer the question, “How much are we investing?” It also needs to answer, “What are we leaving behind?”

Direct contributions may include jobs, tax revenues and skills or technology transfer. Broader, longer-term value may come from stronger local supply chains, better infrastructure, greater R&D capability, and development of the wider industry.

Companies need to consider a more fundamental question: what capabilities does this market gain because we are here?

3. Be transparent and accountable

Major clean-tech and infrastructure projects rarely come without trade-offs.

Relocation, construction disruption and environmental impacts can all raise legitimate concerns. Transparency does not mean presenting every project as a perfect win-win.

It means acknowledging real impacts, explaining how decisions are made, being clear about how negative effects will be mitigated, and showing who is accountable when problems arise.

From acceptance to durable trust

Securing initial acceptance is important. But trust requires long-term commitment and consistent delivery.

There are some encouraging signs.

The ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute’s 2026 regional survey found that 39.8% of respondents trust China would do the right thing for global peace, security, prosperity and governance, compared with 35.2% who expressed distrust. It was the first time since the survey was conducted in 2019 that trust in China exceeded distrust.

Separately, a most recent Lianhe Zaobao survey of 1,000 Singapore residents found that 91% had maintained or improved their perception of Chinese brands.

But these positive trends do not mean that trust has already been established.

In the ISEAS survey, fewer than four in ten respondents expressed clear trust, while a quarter did not take a position. In the Zaobao survey, 66% associated Chinese brands with value for money, but only 11% described them as trustworthy.

This gap is where communications can play a more strategic role.

First, companies need to define a clear local value narrative: what role do we want to play in this market? What local problem can we help address? What capability can we help build? What long-term value do we want to create?

Second, that value proposition needs to be delivered through planned, sustained action. Employment, skills development, local supplier development, research partnerships and community investment can all contribute, but they need to connect with both local needs and the company’s own capabilities and values.

Third, companies need to reinforce the same narrative consistently over time.

Reputation cannot be built overnight. Local value needs to be demonstrated repeatedly across government and industry engagement, community programmes, employee communications and customer interactions, amplified through media and owned channels.

Of course, communications cannot substitute for real local value creation. But without deliberate, consistent and long-term communication, real actions do not automatically translate into trust.

For Chinese clean-tech companies, turning today’s Southeast Asia moment into long-term momentum will depend on how well they can answer a deceptively simple question:

Beyond bringing technology, capital and products into the market, what is different because we are here? Companies that can define that answer, deliver against it and communicate it consistently will be better placed not only to sustain their social licence to operate, but to turn local value creation into a source of competitive advantage.