China, U.S. to cooperate on clean-energy vehicles

Shanghai, November 18 (Gasgoo.com) Chinese President Hu Jintao and visiting U.S. President Barack Obama announced in Beijing yesterday a far-reaching package of measures to strengthen the two nations' cooperation on clean energy. The package focuses on jointly developing and making electric vehicles and other clean cars, Xinhua reported. Its highlights include:

China-U.S. Clean Energy Research Center will be set up with public and private funding of at least $150 million over five years, split evenly between the two countries. Initial research priorities will be building energy efficiency, clean coal including carbon capture and storage, and clean vehicles.

The Protocol formally establishing the Center was signed in Beijing by U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Chinese Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang, and Chinese National Energy Agency Acting Administrator Zhang Guobao.

China-U.S. Electric Vehicles Initiative will be launched, on the basis the first-ever China-U.S. Electric Vehicle Forum in September 2009, and the initiative will include joint standards development, demonstration projects in more than a dozen cities, technical road-mapping and public education projects.

The two leaders stressed their countries' strong shared interest in speeding up the deployment of electric vehicles to reduce oil dependence, cut greenhouse gas emissions and promote economic growth. Millions of electric vehicles will run on Chinese and American roads in the coming few years.

They also announced the China-U.S. Energy Efficiency Action Plan. Under the new plan, the two countries will work together to improve the energy efficiency of buildings, industrial facilities, and consumer appliances.

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