Order from Europe: China sites are to save CO2

Decarbonization is the order of the day – and that also applies to European companies in China. They are under pressure from their headquarters: Most large companies have set group-wide emissions targets, and their China sites are not expected to jeopardize them. As a result, they must rapidly reduce their emissions of harmful gasses in a more challenging environment than in the EU, for example. “The timeline is set by headquarters, not by China,” says Joerg Wuttke, President of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China (EUCCC). That pleases local cadres, he says, because they can present the successes of foreign companies as an example to Chinese state-owned enterprises.