Australian taxpayers have bankrolled a Chinese climate initiative aimed at driving renewables in the nation’s built-up east, which an expert has slammed as "a vain attempt to help them decarbonise."

The Chinese Communist Party-run initiative aims to “slash carbon emissions” and “accelerate air pollution abatement” in the Shandong Province, just south of Beijing.

Shandong leads China in both energy production and motor vehicle usage.

The Shandong Project addresses the province’s “mounting climate change and environmental protection challenges”, with a $600 million loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The loan comprises a large contribution from its Ordinary Capital Resources fund, and a little over $1 million from the Clean Energy Fund.

Australia has contributed about $13.6m to

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