Apple has launched a second phase of its investment fund aimed at expanding clean energy production in China.

The China Clean Energy Fund was first announced by Apple in 2018. It committed, along with 12 of its suppliers, $300 million in investment aimed at connecting Chinese manufacturers with renewable energy sources.

“Our suppliers in China are promoting world-class progress in the fields of intelligent manufacturing and green manufacturing,” said Jeff Williams, Apple Chief Operating Officer in a statement on the company’s Chinese site (in translation). “With the launch of the second phase of the China Clean Energy Fund, we are honored to deepen our connection with suppliers across China.”

The new second phase of the fund aims to add 550,000 megawatt-hours of wind and solar power generation to China’s grid. The hope is that this will grow as more investors are attracted to the fund.

By 2024, the first phase of the fund had created more than 1 gigawatt of solar and wind projects across 14 of the 23 main provinces in China.

The project is part of Apple’s stated goal to become entirely carbon neutral by 2030. Apple claims that at present, around two-thirds of its production in China is powered by renewable energy.

Apple has not revealed what partner suppliers are involved in this second phase of the fund. In 2018, the initial 12 were:

• Catcher Technology
• Compal Electronics
• Corning Incorporated
• Golden Arrow
• Jabil
• Luxshare-ICT
• Pegatron
• Solway
• Sunway Communication
• Wistron

Since 2018, Luxshare has taken a majority stake in Pegatron’s iPhone manufacturing facility in China. Luxshare has also bought two Chinese subsidiaries of Wistron.

Similarly, Catcher Technology has subsequently sold its key Chinese facilities to Lens Technology in 2020.

Overall, Apple’s efforts to become carbon neutral have won it a UN Climate Action award, and the company’s Lisa Jackson has been honored for her work in the field. Apple has also regularly been praised by Greenpeace for its environmental efforts.

Following its 2023 “Wonderlust” event, however, Apple was criticized for how it introduced the Apple Watch Series 9 as being the first carbon-neutral product from the company. A Chinese environmental research group described the announcement as being “climate-washing.”