Air travellers making the descent into Islamabad, Nairobi or S\u00e3o Paulo may be struck by the sight of solar panels scattered liberally over the rooftops. Regular visitors to Kathmandu, Nepal\u2019s capital city, will probably have detected a marked improvement in air quality and traffic noise of late, owing to the shift from combustion engines towards electric vehicles. Hanoi and Addis Ababa may soon follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s behind the growing spread of clean technology in developing countries? In a word, China. Over the last two decades, Chinese firms, backed by consistent government support, have been pushing down costs and pushing up technical performance. The result is solar panels and electric vehicles becoming an option for growing numbers of people in countries across the economic development spectrum. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Working with the insights and advisory firm GlobeScan, we looked into global attitudes towards clean tech, whether built in China or not. Surveying 32,000 people in 33 countries from July to September 2025, we found<\/a> that solar panels and electric vehicles are extremely appealing, with more than eight in ten people expressing an interest in these technologies or having already bought them. Affordability remains a consistent barrier to purchase among those who are interested, but with prices still falling, many of those who are clean-tech curious may soon become adopters and advocates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Globally, around half of people would consider buying a Chinese-made solar panel or electric vehicle (EV). But people in emerging markets are much more likely to buy Chinese clean-tech products than their rich-world counterparts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There is overwhelming interest in sub-Saharan Africa, for instance, where 87% of people across Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa say they are likely to consider buying Chinese-made solar panels. The same goes for 69% of people in Latin America and 67% in the Middle East and North Africa. Meanwhile, across Europe, on average 35% express interest. In the US and Canada, it\u2019s only slightly higher, at 38%.<\/p>\n\n\n\nEmerging markets turn to China\u2019s clean tech<\/h2>\n\n\n\n