The MENA Region:
An Emerging Focal Point in China’s Green Hydrogen Ambitions
By Mathias Larsen
17 December 2025
As China prepares to launch its next Five-Year economic plan, scheduled for March 2026, one technology is emerging as a clear strategic priority: green hydrogen. While solar, wind, and electric vehicles remain central to global decarbonization, China is betting that green hydrogen will define the next era of clean energy leadership. Crucially, this push is not just domestic; just as China is moving other green supply chains overseas, this is already, and will increasingly, happen for green hydrogen. In this context, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is emerging as a focal point for Chinese investment and industrial expansion, supporting the positioning of the region as a global green hydrogen hub.
At home, China is aggressively ramping up green hydrogen production and infrastructure. Major industrial clusters in provinces such as Hebei and Inner Mongolia in the country’s northeast, and Qinghai in central China, are becoming testing grounds for the deployment of electrolyzers, hydrogen storage, and fuel cell applications. Already the world leader in terms of capacity, the Chinese government has set ambitious targets, aiming for rapid production capacity growth towards 2030, supported by government subsidies, large-scale pilot production projects, and state-backed investment in technology innovation. Domestic projects are focused not only on supply for industrial and transportation use, but also on creating an integrated ecosystem of research, manufacturing, and grid integration, ensuring that China develops both the technical expertise and production scale needed to compete globally. Similar to China’s dominance in other clean technologies, this policy is motivated by the wish to lead the world in this new sector. Reflecting the current and future lead of China, the country with the second largest capacity is Saudi Arabia with only a third of China’s capacity.
China is betting that green hydrogen will define the next era of clean energy leadership
The competitive advantage of the MENA region
Green hydrogen is particularly suited to hard-to-abate sectors, including heavy industry, shipping, and aviation, where electrification is challenging. Recognizing this, China is moving rapidly to scale up capacity, for now, primarily at home, but increasingly also abroad. The MENA region offers a unique combination of advantages: vast solar resources, low-cost land, and existing fossil fuel infrastructure that can, in certain cases, be repurposed for hydrogen production, storage, and transportation. For Chinese companies, these conditions present an unparalleled opportunity to achieve scale and cost efficiency.
Data from ongoing projects shows that China is already establishing a significant footprint in MENA. In Egypt, for example, China Energy Engineering has invested USD 6.75 billion in a project for the Suez Canal Economic Zone, with construction beginning in 2024. The project aims to produce 210,000 tons of hydrogen and 1.2 million tons of green ammonia annually. Furthermore, in Morocco, a new green hydrogen project is partially funded by China Energy Engineering Corporation, with an MoU signed in 2023. Combining ammonia, green hydrogen, and renewables, the capacity translates into an approximately USD 5 billion investment. As another large-scale example, Jordan’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources is planning a USD 1.16 billion green hydrogen and ammonia project with China’s UEG Green Hydrogen Development. Still in early stages, the two parties signed an MoU in September 2025. These projects highlight a growing ecosystem of joint projects between Chinese and local partners across the MENA region.
A window of opportunity for the region
This emerging phenomenon constitutes an opportunity for MENA countries to use Chinese investments to both develop their industries and drive a green transition. Specifically, MENA countries benefit from technology transfer, infrastructure development, and industrial growth. Local governments gain access to Chinese expertise and financing, enabling them to become exporters of green hydrogen and green ammonia to Europe and Asia, and potentially reshaping the region’s energy economy for decades.
Recent data published by the Net Zero Industrial Policy Lab underscores that this is already happening. 13 projects are currently taking place in the MENA region out of a global total of 24 projects. This illustrates a deliberate strategy from China rather than a coincidence. Chinese firms are signing MoUs and cooperation agreements with the host country and international partners, laying the groundwork for industrial-scale production. As these projects transition from planning to operational stages, capacity will increase sharply, making the MENA region a global hub of green hydrogen production.
China’s emerging global role
Chinese companies are positioned to dominate the manufacturing of key green hydrogen components, including electrolyzers, storage tanks, and transport solutions. Furthermore, China’s domestic objectives also drive this outward push. Green hydrogen complements its existing investments in solar and wind, enabling seasonal energy storage, grid balancing, and decarbonization of industries that cannot rely solely on electricity. By exporting capital, technology, and industrial capability to MENA, China not only meets its domestic carbon neutrality targets but also extends its global leadership in the most important clean technologies. From this intention, MENA becomes both a supplier of green hydrogen and a strategic partner in China’s global green energy agenda.
This trend has significant implications for global energy dynamics. As Chinese investment scales up, production costs will fall, making green hydrogen increasingly competitive and accelerating adoption worldwide. For the MENA region, hosting Chinese-led green hydrogen projects both advances China’s global role and could catalyze economic diversification, technological development, and industrial modernization, creating a new low-carbon growth pathway. Furthermore, such investments further cement the MENA region’s dependency on Beijing for its green transition.
The region is set to host the first wave of industrial-scale hydrogen projects, laying the foundation for a global low-carbon supply chain dominated by Chinese technology and investment
A budding trend set to scale up
The investments reflect a clear pattern: MENA is central to China’s green hydrogen ambitions. With both natural advantages and strategic infrastructure, the region is set to host the first wave of industrial-scale hydrogen projects, laying the foundation for a global low-carbon supply chain dominated by Chinese technology and investment.
Looking ahead, this trend is poised to scale. As China continues to refine its Five-Year Plan and prioritise green hydrogen, investments in MENA are likely to accelerate. The combination of abundant renewable resources, existing infrastructure, and Chinese technological leadership positions the region as a cornerstone of the global green hydrogen economy. For global policymakers, investors, and energy stakeholders, the message is clear: beyond China, the MENA region is becoming a focal point of the emerging green hydrogen industry.
Construction is underway at the Suez Canal Economic Zone, where a USD 6.75 billion green hydrogen and ammonia project is set to transform Egypt into a leading producer and exporter of clean energy. The project will produce 210,000 tons of hydrogen and 1.2 million tons of green ammonia annually, supported by significant Chinese investment and a strategic location at the heart of global trade routes.
