The Asia-Pacific region is at a critical juncture where rising energy security risks, accelerating green transition, and industrial restructuring are unfolding in parallel. Economies in the region vary significantly in resource endowments, development stages, industrial foundations, market structures, and governance capabilities. These differences create considerable complementarity for energy cooperation, while adding complexity to cross border project implementation and regional coordination.
During APEC Beijing Energy Week in September 2026, China’s participants in the APEC Energy Partners Network released the report From Industrial Practice to Regional Collaboration: Practices and Prospects for Asia-Pacific Energy Synergy and Collaborative Governance. The Institute of Energy at Peking University provided research support for the report.
This report delves into corporate practices in energy storage, hydrogen, wind power, photovoltaics (PV), transport electrification, and low-carbon fuels, as well as the practices of industry platforms and China’s Participation in APEC Energy Partnership Network. the report examines how energy cooperation in the Asia-Pacific is evolving from product trade and individual projects toward supply-chain collaboration, broader stakeholder participation and greater institutional coordination.
This report identifies four common challenges currently facing Asia-Pacific energy cooperation: First, institutional and market disparities across economies raise project adaptation costs. Second, technical standards, testing and certification, and carbon accounting frameworks are not yet fully aligned. Third, infrastructure and local industrial capacity building are relatively underdeveloped. Fourth, revenue mechanisms and long-term investment security for renewable energy projects still need improvement. Relevant practices also offer four key takeaways: First, industry practice serves as an important starting point for identifying regional cooperation needs and priorities. Second, localization and industry chain collaboration are essential to enhancing the long-term value of cross-border cooperation. Third, synergy between infrastructure and market mechanisms plays a key role in expanding energy system services through renewable energy technologies. Fourth, multi-stakeholder coordination and experience translation are vital safeguards for boosting regional cooperation effectiveness.
Building on the above analysis, this report calls on Asia-Pacific economies to uphold voluntary-cooperation principles of “for all, openness, synergy, pragmatism, and universal benefit”. On the basis of respecting differences, voluntary participation, and mutual benefit, priority should be given to advancing cooperation in five areas: First, strengthening regional energy resilience and energy security to consolidate the foundation for shared development. Second, enhancing power infrastructure resilience and boosting system regulation and risk response capabilities. Third, optimizing the regional allocation of clean energy to open up space for industrial and investment cooperation. Fourth, promoting energy inclusivity and capacity building for shared gains from energy transition. Fifth, leveraging digital and intelligent technologies to improve the effectiveness of coordination and pragmatic cooperation. By strengthening industry chain collaboration, regulatory alignment, infrastructure development, investment security, and research outcome commercialization, Asia-Pacific energy cooperation can progressively evolve from project-based collaboration toward long-term, stable, and multi-layered institutional coordination.
Below are the full reports in Chinese and English, along with key findings summaries. Please click the links below to download:
Full Report (Chinese): [CN] https://tongyuan1.pku.edu.cn/publish/nyyjy2024/docs/2026-09/4f02f5adf3c5489e9979d378a9771590.pdf
Full Report (English): [EN]https://tongyuan1.pku.edu.cn/publish/nyyjy2024/docs/2026-09/deefd249e5814d42b271e8aef2ca1421.pdf
Key Findings and Recommendations (Chinese): [CN]https://tongyuan1.pku.edu.cn/publish/nyyjy2024/docs/2026-09/2502aa07e1f4456fb5a2df2774b55391.pdf
Key Findings and Recommendations (English): [EN] https://tongyuan1.pku.edu.cn/publish/nyyjy2024/docs/2026-09/df92c1b4057c495ab7ae6ceb06d8b45c.pdf