Commissioner Arias Cañete in China to strengthen climate and clean energy ties

Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Cañete will visit the People’s Republic of China, from 29 March to 2 April. During his visit, he will hold political talks in Beijing and visit clean energy projects in Hebei province and the city of Ningbo in South Eastern China. In the capital, the Commissioner will meet with China’s Special Representative on climate change Xie Zhenhua, the Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang, the Director of the National Energy Administration (NEA) Nur Bekri, and the Vice-Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) Zhang Yong. Commissioner Arias Cañete‘s mission to China comes at a critical time in international climate policy, allowing the EU and China to show joint leadership and explore how they can reinforce their strong commitment to the 2015 Paris Agreement ahead of the EU-China summit to be held in June. The implementation of the EU-China energy roadmap agreed by Commissioner Arias Cañete in June 2016, clean energy cooperation, low-emission mobility and emissions trading will be discussed during the Commissioner’s visit, based on the long-standing cooperation of the two sides on the topics. Meetings with European energy companies, the EU’s Chamber of Commerce in China, NGOs and think-tanks will complete the four-day mission. Ahead of the visit, Commissioner Arias Cañete said: “The EU and China are joining forces to forge ahead on the implementation of the Paris Agreement and accelerate the global transition to clean energy. Our successful cooperation on issues like emissions trading and clean technologies are bearing fruit. Now is the time to further strengthen these ties to keep the wheels turning for ambitious global climate action. In these turbulent times, shared climate leadership is needed more than ever.”