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UK Secretary of State Ed Davey visited Chongqing

UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Davey, visited Chongqing onTuesday 24 September.

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Ed Davey, UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change

UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Davey, visited Chongqing today, Tuesday 24 September.

Mr Davey’s trip is an important step in strengthening the UK-Chongqing relationship and included, with UK Ambassador to China Sebastian Wood, a meeting with the Chongqing Party Secretary Sun Zhengcai to discuss ways to build on the partnership.

They also discussed Chongqing’s urbanisation and its efforts to address climate change. This is a theme which builds on the UK’s own expertise and experience in policy, academia and industry, and which has been a feature of recent UK-Chongqing collaboration: for example, the British Consulate – General is supporting projects on low carbon master planning and policy development, and has organised ‘Sustainable Cities’ trade missions.

In the morning Mr Davey visited Chongqing’s urban planning exhibition to get a greater understanding of the city’s development. He also toured a new LEED Gold rated green building at Chongqing Tiandi by British architects/engineers Arup. The building uses innovative technology and management techniques to reduce energy usage and improve water efficiency.

In the afternoon the Secretary of State held meetings with the Chongqing Energy Investment Group and Hizhuang Wind Power to promote UK-China energy trade and investment, and to outline how the UK’s recent energy strategies and electricity market reform offer clarity for investors in the UK’s energy infrastructure.

At Hizhuang the Minister toured the wind turbine factory. Offshore wind is a key sector for the UK – it has more installed capacity than the rest of the world combined – and the Minister encouraged Hizhuang to pursue closer links.

The Minister will be travelling to Shanghai and then Beijing to continue his trip, which will culminate in a high level energy dialogue. The visit coincides with the publication of the fifth report of the International Panel on Climate Change on Friday 27 September, which is expected to say how anthropogenic activities are causing climate change, what the extent and consequences of this change are likely to be, and what we need to do to address it.

Published 24 September 2013
Last updated 25 September 2013 + show all updates
  1. date was corrected

  2. A clearer pic was changed

  3. Added translation