Managing decarbonization in Chinese energy SOEs: Strategic space, governance hierarchy, and coal exposure
Yaning Xu
Farabi International Business School, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University
DOI: https://doi.org/10.59429/bam.v8i2.14522
Keywords: Chinese state-owned enterprises; strategic management; decarbonization; governance hierarchy; coal exposure; managerial discretion; dynamic capabilities; comparative case analysis; SASAC
Abstract
Chinese state-owned energy enterprises (SOEs) face the same national decarbonization agenda, yet their room to act differs sharply. This article develops a management-oriented diagnostic framework for judging strategic space before transition targets, investment plans, or restructuring programs are fixed. Strategic space is shaped by two conditions: A firm's position in the state-ownership hierarchy and its exposure to coal through assets, revenue, workforce, and regional obligations. Their interaction produces four managerial situations that the simple central-provincial distinction cannot capture. A structured comparison of CHN Energy, China Huaneng, Shandong Energy Group, and Zhejiang Provincial Energy Group shows that SASAC's 2022-2024 tenure-assessment mechanism matters as a central-tier pressure signal, but it does not determine behavior by itself. The framework calls for portfolio reconfiguration where room is wide, credible sequencing where coal lock-in is severe, and closer scrutiny where targets mainly produce symbolic alignment.
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