By US Department of Energy
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Beijing, China Yesterday, the first-ever U.S.-China Electric Vehicle Forum concluded in Beijing, China, bringing together more than 140 U.S. and Chinese officials from government, industry, academia and advocacy groups to discuss progress made in the electric vehicle industry to date and opportunities for collaboration and progress moving forward. DOE Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs David Sandalow joined with Minister Wan Gang of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology to co-host the event and highlight the rapidly growing electric vehicle industry in both countries.
"The U.S. and China share a strong common interest in putting millions of electric vehicles on the road soon, which will lessen our dependence on foreign oil and help address the global climate challenge," said Sandalow. "Working together, we can accomplish more than acting alone."
The U.S. and China are the two largest auto markets and energy consumers, and together emit more than 40 percent of the world's greenhouse gases. The Electric Vehicle Forum provided a venue for experts to exchange recent developments and identify promising opportunities for technical and policy collaboration.
The Electric Vehicle Forum builds upon growing U.S.-China collaboration on clean energy technologies. In July, the United States and China announced plans to develop a U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center (CERC) that will facilitate joint research and development on clean energy by bringing together teams of scientists and engineers and providing an information clearing house to help researchers in both countries. CERC has identified clean vehicles as a priority for joint projects and it's expected that the Research Center will help advance cooperative projects identified during the Electric Vehicle Forum.
Collaboration on science and technology has long been a cornerstone of U.S-China bilateral cooperation. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the U.S.-China Science & Technology Agreement, which represented the first agreement between the two countries following the normalization of relations in the 1970s. Today, opportunities abound for U.S.-China cooperation on clean energy technologies.
Jody Freeman, Counselor for Energy and Climate Change at the White House and luncheon speaker at the Electric Vehicles Forum, said, "By working together the U.S. and China can leverage technological breakthroughs, increase consumer acceptance and grow market penetration of clean vehicles."
SOURCE
