Forum learns of China's thrust on green efforts

China has taken concrete steps to promote green development in the Asia-Pacific region and will deepen international cooperation in trade, investment and technology to make a bigger contribution to the region's net-zero transition, officials said on Thursday.

"The country is taking practical actions to promote green development in the Asia-Pacific region and even the world economy," Li Fei, assistant minister at the Ministry of Commerce, said on Thursday while addressing the APEC China CEO Forum 2022, themed Towards A Green Economy.

China has encouraged the export of new energy vehicles and other green products, thus contributing to the low-carbon transition of the global auto sector, Li said.

Also, the country is supportive of domestic enterprises expanding outbound green investments, which can help create green jobs and facilitate the green development of China's economic partners, he said.

Actively taking part in international cooperation on green development, China has signed agreements with 12 economies, including Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation members, to facilitate investment cooperation in the field of green economy, Li said.

Highlighting the critical role of business in promoting green development in the Asia-Pacific region, he called for businesses in the region to boost green innovation, strengthen green industrial chains and deeply participate in policy consultations to help create a business environment friendly to green development.

Li's remarks came after a key report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China called for the establishment of eco-friendly ways of work and life and steadily lowering carbon emissions after reaching a peak, as part of the country's overall development objectives for the year 2035.

Yang Yinkai, deputy secretary general of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at the forum that the country welcomes and supports enterprises from different countries, including those in the Asia-Pacific region, to participate in China's carbon reduction pursuit.

The country encourages exchanges and cooperation on low-carbon technologies, with a focus on areas like hydrogen energy, energy storage, energy conservation and carbon dioxide capture and utilization, Yang said.

China is supportive of foreign enterprises beefing up investment in the country across such areas as new energy, energy conservation and environmental protection, and will work to expand the country's import and export of energy-saving and environmental protection products and services, he said.

Recognizing the huge cooperation potential between domestic and foreign enterprises in the field of net-zero transition, he expressed his hope that multinationals can work with Chinese companies to explore third-party markets for win-win results.

Demonstrating the vitality of green collaboration between Chinese companies and their foreign partners, Liu Mingsheng, general manager of China Datang Corp Ltd, said the Chinese energy company has cooperated in low-carbon projects with power multinationals from the United States, France and South Korea.

China Datang operates energy projects in 13 countries and regions overseas, with three biomass power stations in Thailand promoting local development of the green economy, Liu said.