California Strengthens Relationships During Follow-Up Trip to China
A delegation from California traveled to China recently to help strengthen relationships and agreements signed during Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.’s June trip.
California Energy Commission Chair Robert B. Weisenmiller led the delegation, which included representatives from Governor Brown’s Office and the California Air Resources Board.
The Oct. 28 to Nov. 5 trip builds off agreements signed in June to advance cooperation on clean tech innovation and share best practices regarding climate change. Programs discussed included the state’s cap-and-trade program, Title 24–Energy Efficiency Building Standards, and efforts on clean-energy vehicles.
“The trip to China was a productive one and illustrates the important global cooperation that is essential in paving the way towards a low-carbon energy transition,” Weisenmiller said.
On Nov. 15, Weisenmiller delivered closing keynote remarks on advancing the California-China clean technology partnership at the Investing in Innovation: Emerging Trends in China and California conference, which the Asia Society and the Bay Area Council organized.
During the China trip, meetings occurred with a number of government and private sector businesses in Beijing, Nanjing, and Shenzhen.
The Energy Commission signed an agreement with the Center for Science & Technology and Industrialization Development at the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. This agreement focuses on low-carbon urban development, particularly renewable energy generation and integration, smart grid and grid management, and building energy efficiency standards in the Xiong'an New Area outside Beijing.
The Energy Commission also signed an agreement with the Jiangsu Science and Technology Department in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. This agreement, a direct result of the agreement signed in June by Governor Brown, identifies the priority technology types that will be the focus of the California-Jiangsu Clean Technology Partnership.
In Shenzhen, the Energy Commission signed a clean technology partnership agreement with the Municipal Government of Shenzhen, which includes a memorandum of understanding with the Shenzhen High Tech Park to establish the California-Shenzhen Clean Tech Innovation Center.
California, which is the world leader in clean technology innovation, will benefit from the agreements in a number of ways, including helping to spread the state’s technologies to new markets. The partnerships will help identify clean technologies that achieve each region's shared climate change and pollution reduction goals and grow each regional economy.
The Energy Commission will ensure the funds are directed to projects in California that benefit California businesses and ratepayers, also ensuring the projects achieve the goals of the agreements.
The agreements will establish physical innovation and incubation space in China for California companies to access, which would include equipment, work space, and information to help California companies understand and successfully navigate the Chinese market. An innovation center was launched in Shenzhen during this trip, and plans call for a second center to be kicked off in Beijing during the first half of 2018.
During the trip, the delegation also met with partners for the California-China Clean Technology Innovation Fund, which will bring together Chinese investors to develop innovative clean technologies in California. This partnership, which is in the development stage, will bring investments to California and further the state’s global leadership role in developing and deploying clean technologies.
The agreements will be posted on the Energy Commission international cooperation webpage.
Additional photos from the California delegation in China can be viewed here.
