China’s economy is struggling: Many young people can’t find jobs, the nation’s real estate market is in trouble after two major property development companies failed, and China’s stock market has seen a $7 trillion decline in just a few years. But Beijing has a plan to do something about it.

When the “green energy” movement began, China recognized an opportunity, Erin Walsh explains. Beijing saw an “opening because they don’t have oil, so they had to come up with something else,” said Walsh, senior research fellow for international affairs in the Asian Studies Center at The Heritage Foundation. “Because, how do you electrify and grow, and become No. 1 in the world, which is their goal; how do you do that if you don’t have energy?” she asked. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.) 

China has “hijacked the agenda” of the green movement, because the Asian giant is on the forefront of developing electric vehicles, batteries, and solar energy, according to Walsh. 

Walsh joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to explain the factors that have led to China’s economic challenges and how Beijing is seeking to overcome its economic woes by further dominating the energy market. 

Listen to the podcast below: 

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