Wu urges high-tech, clean energy co-op between China, US

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-09-09 00:22

PHOENIX: Top Chinese legislator Wu Bangguo is urging more cooperation between China and the United States in the fields of high-technology and clean energy.

"The Chinese and US economies are highly complementary in nature, and they share a solid basis for economic and trade cooperation," Wu said during visits Monday and Sunday to Honeywell International, a company that specializes in aerospace and automation technology, and First Solar Inc., one of the world's fastest growing manufacturers of solar modules.

China and the United States, Wu said, also face the common tasks of adjusting their economic structures, which has brought challenges as well as opportunities for their economic and trade links.

Wu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People's Congress, expressed hope that clean energy and high-tech cooperation could become new growth engines for China-US bilateral trade.

China, Wu said, is focused on adjusting its economic structure, promoting industrial upgrades and changing its development mode in connection with its sci-tech innovation capacity.

Despite the world financial crisis, Honeywell maintained sound cooperation with Chinese enterprises due to continued growth in China, said David M. Cote, chairman and CEO of Honeywell International.

Auto-control technology, aerospace and automotive products, and special materials in which Honeywell specializes could be helpful to China's economic structure adjustment, Cote said.

Cote pledged to press ahead with Honeywell's development plans in China and forge closer ties with Chinese businesses.

While touring First Solar, Wu said the Chinese government is seeking a legislature guarantee for the development of renewable energy.

The legislator suggested joint research and development, pilot projects, and expanding mutual investment as ways to increase both countries' solar energy capacity.

First Solar CEO Mike Ahearn said Wu's visit could bolster cooperation on solutions for accelerating the pace of renewable energy adoption.

"If the US and China work together and strongly support solar growth, we believe we can reduce the costs of solar electricity to 'grid parity' - where it is competitive with traditional energy sources - and create the blueprint for accelerated mass scale deployment of solar power worldwide to mitigate climate change," Ahearn said in a statement.

Wu arrived in Arizona on Sunday on the final leg of a three-nation North American tour. He was to visit Washington on Tuesday and was expected to meet with President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.