Smart investors are recognising that China intends to lead the US and other countries in the race to develop green technologies as part of its ambitious new strategy for economic growth.

China’s 13th Five-Year Plan, for the period from 2016 to 2020, is guided by five principles: innovation, coordination, greening, opening up and sharing. When Zhang Gaoli, vice-premier, described these principles this year to a group of overseas business and academic leaders at the China Development Forum, he spent longest on ‘greening’, providing a clear indication of the importance being placed on green development for China’s future growth.

In a conversation that followed, Li Keqiang, China’s premier, told Mark Fields, chief executive of the Ford Motor Company, that sales of gasoline-powered cars are likely to be overtaken within the next two decades in China by those of “new energy vehicles”. Both the emphasis and the exchange are indicative of China’s plans for a clean economy, shifting away from carbon-intensive industries like iron and steel towards services, while seeking to maintain a robust 6.5 per cent GDP growth rate – the envy of many developed countries.