In 2021, China's President Xi Jinping promised to stop financing overseas coal-fired power facilities. However, according to the analysis of energy investments in BRICS countries, Chinese firms still help to build new coal plant for the BRICS bloc. 

The BRICS bloc was established by India, Russia, Brazil and China in 2009. Now its members and partners already cover around a quarter of the global economy and half of carbon dioxide emissions in the world.

US think tank GEM (Global Energy Monitor) said China has 7.7 gigawatts of new coal-fired power facilities under construction, mostly built to run nickel smelters in Indonesia. Despite the BRICS countries like Brazil, India, and China deploying green energy rapidly, and in 2024, it has covered half of the bloc's total electricity, the newest 10 members, such as Nigeria, Kazakhstan, and Indonesia, still depend on fossil fuels to cope with increasing energy demand. 

GEM data revealed that these 10 countries are working on 25 GW of coal, oil and gas, as well as 2.3 GW of solar and wind facilities. Another 63 GW of gas-fired ones are under development. GEM said China is backing 88% of all the new projects of coal-fired power plants.