Commerce Secretary Gary Locke Announces Support for U.S.-China Energy Cooperation Program

Innovative public-private partnership to promote U.S. clean energy business in China

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announced today that he will witness a signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to support the U.S.-China Energy Cooperation Program (ECP) by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and the Chinese Ministry of Commerce on Thursday at the 20th U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade. The ECP is an innovative new public-private partnership that will deploy the expertise of U.S. companies to help develop clean energy solutions in China.

“This new partnership will provide an opportunity for U.S. companies to work with their Chinese counterparts—as well as with the U.S. and Chinese governments—to remove barriers to clean energy deployment, accelerate development of clean energy projects, explore standards harmonization and share regulatory best practices,” Locke said.

“We are pleased to be working together with the Chinese government and private sector firms in an effort to promote solutions that will combat global climate change,” said USTDA Acting Director Leocadia I. Zak.

Locke made the announcement at an energy forum today with Ambassador Huntsman, Zak and companies participating in the ECP, and held a roundtable discussion to hear about their experiences and challenges in the China market.

The ECP will focus on commercialization of clean energy solutions and is designed to leverage private-sector resources for project development work, while at the same time advancing U.S. commercial interests in China. The program will focus on four promising areas of collaboration, among others: smart grid development, renewable energy, energy-efficiency and clean energy technologies.

This effort reflects an ongoing partnership among the Departments of Commerce and Energy, USTDA, and U.S. industry with respective Chinese counterparts to create mutually-beneficial solutions that will lead the United States and China into the next generation of clean energy development.

Through the ECP, U.S. energy companies interested in the Chinese energy market will work together to select projects that enhance market opportunities and address impediments to trade that otherwise could not be undertaken by individual companies.

Locke applauded the steps the ECP is taking to enable American firms to compete and innovate in China, and said that both China and the United States—as the world's two biggest energy consumers—have a common responsibility to use clean, low-carbon energy resources and technologies.

“Widespread deployment of energy efficiency and clean energy technologies will be essential to keep our economies growing while preventing the catastrophic effects of climate change,” Locke said.