US Dept of Energy and China agree to conduct an EcoCity policy study

From the Press Room of the U.S. Department of the Treasury

December 4, 2008

U.S. – China Joint Fact Sheet: Ten Year Energy and Environment Cooperation

Recognizing that energy and environmental challenges represent two important issues facing our two countries, the United States and the People’s Republic of China signed the Ten Year Framework on Energy and Environment Cooperation in Annapolis, Maryland during SED IV on June 18, 2008. Building upon the Ten Year Framework, the U.S. and China agreed to the following:

• Building upon existing bilateral agreements and recent accomplishments between the United States and China, the two countries reached consensus on initial areas of cooperation and identified milestones and actions to be taken in efforts to achieve the Ten Year Framework goals of Clean, Efficient and Secure Electricity Production and Transmission; Clean Water; Clean Air; Clean and Efficient Transportation; and Conservation of Forests and Wetlands Ecosystems;
• The United States and China agreed to establish a sixth goal on energy efficiency cooperation under the Ten Year Framework;
• Building upon the announcement made at SED IV, the United States and China signed the Framework for EcoPartnerships under the Ten Year Framework, aimed at developing new models for energy security, economic sustainability, and environmental sustainability in both countries. The following seven initial EcoPartnerships were announced:
  • Energy Future Holdings Corp. and China Huadian Corporation;
  • Denver, Colorado, USA, Ford Motor Company and Chongqing, China, Changan Auto Group Corporation;
  • Wichita, Kansas, USA and Wuxi, Jiangsu, China;
  • Floating Windfarms Corporation and Tangshan Caofeidian New Development Area, Hebei, China
  • Port of Seattle, Washington, USA and Dalian Port Corporation, Liaoning, China;
  • Greensburg, Kansas, USA and Mianzhu, Sichuan, China; and
  • Tulane University and East China Normal University (ECNU).
• The United States, through the Department of Energy, and the People’s Republic of China, through the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Construction, agreed to conduct an EcoCity policy study, strengthen capacity building, promote science and technology development, and design an EcoCity demonstration project under the Ten Year Framework;
• The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) will jointly develop a curriculum and training to expand capacity within the Chinese national and provincial governments, and within industry, on conducting energy efficiency audits to promote pollution reduction and energy efficient enterprises;
• Under the MOU on energy conservation and environmental protection signed at SED V, the United States, through the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and the U.S. Export-Import Bank, and the People’s Republic of China, through the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Export-Import Bank of China, will jointly support public private partnerships to address deficiencies in energy efficiency in Chinese enterprises; the U.S. and Chinese export-import banks will facilitate the financing for select projects that involve U.S. exports; and both sides will jointly organize trade facilitation activities;
• Under the MOU on clean water signed at SED V, the United States, through the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the People’s Republic China, through the Ministry of Environmental Protection, will cooperate to establish a partnership, working through U.S. trade associations, to leverage U.S. private sector expertise and resources to build on current bilateral efforts under the Ten-Year Framework to support China’s high priority clean water program.