"International NGOs and Chinese Partners Promoting Sustainable Overseas Investments" - by CWP alum Wendy Leutert and Austin Strange

In March 2019, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and China’s National Forestry and Grassland Administration co-hosted two workshops on reducing wildlife trafficking in Kenya and Botswana. These workshops, supported by the Chinese embassies in Nairobi and Gaborone, attracted over 200 Chinese nationals working for state-owned or private companies in the two countries. During the workshops, the international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) and Chinese government officials expressed their shared goal of reducing the illegal trade of products from rare and endangered African species to China, one of the world’s largest markets for trafficked wildlife products.

These workshops highlight how INGOs and Chinese actors are responding to Xi Jinping’s 2019 pledge at the second Belt and Road Forum to make the BRI  “open, green, and clean.” Although some experts have raised concerns about Beijing’s greenwashing of Chinese investments abroad, many international groups are attempting to make China’s overseas projects more environmentally sustainable. 

CHINA ENVIRONMENT FORUM  //  GUEST CONTRIBUTOR Green Collaboration: International NGOs and Chinese Partners Promoting Sustainable Overseas Investments April 11, 2024 By Elizabeth Planton, Wendy Leutert & Austin Strange - https://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2024/04/green-collaboration-international-ngos-and-chinese-partners-promoting-sustainable-overseas-investments/

Wendy Leutert is the GLP-Ming Z. Mei Chair of Chinese Economics and Trade. Her research focuses on Chinese political economy, specifically the historical evolution and global expansion of China's state-owned enterprises. Other areas of her research include leadership in China's public sector, China’s early reform and opening, corporate governance in state-owned enterprises, and international investment and trade. Her commentary has been featured in media outlets including the Financial Times, New York Times, Reuters, Washington Post, and South China Morning Post. For further details about her research, see: www.wendyleutert.com.

Austin Strange is Assistant Professor of International Relations in the Department of Politics and Public Administration. He researches and teaches Chinese foreign policy, international political economy, and international development. Austin’s current research focuses on China’s historical and contemporary roles in the world economy. Currently Austin is a Public Intellectuals Program Fellow with the National Committee on US-China Relations. In 2021-2022 he was a Wilson China Fellow at the Wilson Center and was previously a fellow with the Columbia-Harvard China and the World Program. He received a Ph.D. in Government from Harvard University, M.A. from Zhejiang University, and B.A. from the College of William & Mary.

Photo Credit: By Shukran888 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=80616668