Abstract During the past 5 years, the Chinese government has organized and implemented a large-scale energy-efficiency retrofit program for existing residential buildings in China׳s northern heating region. However, many obstacles, especially lack of successful financing arrangements, have limited the implementation of retrofits under the program. This paper analyzes the key financing challenges that have faced the program, using case studies of the different financing arrangements that have been used. Some of the key issues influencing the program׳s success to date are differing retrofit and other priorities of various stakeholders, timing and methods of payback on investments, potential investors׳ lack of access to risk analysis, uncertainty about benefit sharing, and the need for revisions in policies governing retrofits and energy contracts. We make recommendations to address these issues and improve the success of the north China energy-efficiency retrofit program.