Context

Cooperation between the Federal Republic of Germany and the People’s Republic of China in the field of energy policy started in 2007. In early 2013, the countries agreed to intensify their collaboration on establishing environmentally friendly energy supply. The energy partnership is the central platform for institutionalised energy policy dialogue between Germany and China. 

The Sino-German Energy Partnership is part of the global programme on Supporting Bilateral Energy Partnerships in Developing Countries and Emerging Economies. GIZ supports the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) in implementing and refining the design of energy partnerships (EP) with Algeria, Brazil, Chile, China, Ethiopia, India, Jordan, Mexico, Morocco, South Africa and Tunisia, and in developing new dialogue structures with other developing countries and emerging economies.

Objective

The Sino-German Energy Partnership is pushing the energy transition in the two countries forward by means of continuous political, economic, regulatory and technological exchange.

Approach

The Sino-German Energy Partnership contributes to sharing lessons learned from Germany’s energy transition with China and to raising awareness among Chinese energy sector stakeholders of the challenges involved in the energy transition. Regular working group meetings and high-level bilateral meetings facilitate in-depth political and technical dialogue between German and Chinese decision-makers on the energy transition. Priority areas of the cooperation are expanding renewable energies and increasing energy efficiency in industry and buildings.

The energy partnership combines high-level government dialogue and expert advice with the involvement of the private sector. The BMWE, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the National Energy Administration (NEA) of the People’s Republic of China agreed on the specific areas they wanted to focus on. These are being addressed by two thematic working groups:

Energy Working Group:

• Promotion and system integration of renewable energy
• Electricity market regulation and reform
• Power sector flexibilisation and energy storage
• Sustainable heating
• Biomethane
• Hydrogen

Energy Efficiency Working Group:

• Energy efficiency in towns and cities, buildings and industry, including implementing model projects with the involvement of the private sector
• Energy efficiency networks 
• Innovative business and financing models 

The project has set up two permanent secretariats with headquarters in Beijing and Berlin. These serve as the first point of contact for stakeholders and as an information platform for activities of the energy partnership.

Results

• The Chinese energy market’s legal and technological framework has been improved, enabling more environmentally friendly and socially responsible development. This involved numerous exchange formats such as expert workshops, study tours and round table discussions incorporating the private sector. 
• These events have also helped to intensify the dialogue on energy topics between Germany and China. For example, Chinese stakeholders have embraced the German model of using energy-efficiency networks as a tool for promoting energy savings, making particular use of this approach in their energy-intensive industrial sector. The Chinese policy for promoting renewable energy also draws on lessons learned in Germany.
• The energy partnership also supports bilateral exchange in the context of major international events such as the International Forum on Energy Transitions (IFET) in Suzhou and the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue (BETD).

Last update: May 2025