Southeast Asian nations have emerged as key drivers of China’s clean-energy export boom, with the region making record purchases of energy storage batteries, grid equipment, electric vehicles and clean-power generation components so far this year.
In total, countries within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have splashed out over $20 billion on Chinese-made clean-tech products so far in 2026, according to energy think tank Ember.
That spend total is 50% more than in the same period a year ago, and has solidified Southeast Asia’s place as the largest market within Asia for Chinese-made clean-tech components.
The Southeast Asian demand surge matters because, while Europe has been the chief destination for China’s clean-tech exports in recent years, ASEAN clearly represents the next frontier and could offer Chinese exporters a years-long demand boom for their products.
Broad-based demand
ASEAN’s demand for China’s exports runs the gamut of clean-tech systems. Year-to-date purchases of batteries, grid components, heating and cooling equipment, EVs and solar arrays have all scaled to record highs this year.
This broad-based demand will be a welcome development for Chinese exporters, which have relied heavily on advanced economies in recent years but are facing rising trade tensions in Europe and North America that may slow future growth.
In contrast, development trends across Southeast Asia suggest that sustained demand growth for Chinese-made equipment will continue as electricity use, industrial activity and energy investments all move higher.
The region’s economies continue to urbanise, industrialise and digitise at an accelerating rate. Governments are building renewable-energy capacity, expanding power grids, encouraging EV adoption and strengthening domestic manufacturing sectors.
Each of those goals requires the same products that China now produces at unmatched scale: solar panels, batteries, EVs and power equipment.
As a result, Southeast Asia is helping to absorb a growing share of China’s clean-tech output at a time when access to some developed markets is becoming more uncertain.
Solar shines
Export data on solar systems provide one of the clearest examples of Southeast Asia’s importance to China’s manufacturers.
Collectively, ASEAN nations have spent $4.1 billion so far this year on imports of Chinese-made solar arrays, which marks a nearly 90% jump from the same months in 2025.
ASEAN accounted for 57% of China’s total solar exports across Asia, making the region a critical market for its solar sector.
Standout buyers include the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam, which have all roughly doubled their spending on solar imports so far in 2026 compared with a year earlier.
Several Southeast Asian nations also dialled up spending to record highs on battery and grid imports, with the region spending just under $7 billion on energy-storage batteries and around $1.6 billion on grid components.
An additional $1.2 billion was spent on imports of heating and cooling systems, while the region also brought in $6.3 billion worth of EVs.
Wider impact
The widespread uptick in demand for clean-energy components across Southeast Asia has repercussions beyond China’s manufacturing base.
Emissions trajectories will increasingly be shaped by developing economies with rising populations, expanding industrial sectors and growing electricity needs.
And Southeast Asia — with a total population of roughly 700 million, according to ASEANstats.org — is one of the fastest-growing economic blocs globally, with annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth pegged at around 5%.
That economic momentum requires steadily expanding power consumption, and coal currently accounts for a majority of the region’s power mix, according to data from Ember.
Yet every additional shipment of solar modules, batteries, EVs and grid equipment into Southeast Asia potentially accelerates the deployment of lower-carbon energy systems across one of the world’s fastest-growing economic regions.
The clean-tech story is therefore no longer simply about where products are made. It is also about where they are being used.
By this metric, Southeast Asia is becoming one of the most important regions in the global energy transition.
Its clean-tech imports are growing faster than the global market. Its share of Asian demand continues to rise. And its appetite spans every major segment of the clean-energy economy.
As China searches for markets capable of absorbing its vast clean-tech output, no region is becoming more important than Southeast Asia.
Reuters
