Experts see China and Australia spurring low-carbon economy

The low-carbon field is now the new frontier for China-Australia cooperation and innovation, so deepening collaboration between the two countries in related areas will prove win-win and also benefit the world, experts and business leaders said on Monday.

They also said the long history of China-Australia economic and trade cooperation and the win-win nature of their relations provide a solid base for the two countries to deepen mutual understanding and promote pragmatic cooperation.

They made the remarks at the Australia-China Low Carbon and Innovation Cooperation Forum, which was jointly held by the China Chamber of International Commerce and the Australia China Business Council online and in Melbourne.

David Olsson, chairman and national president of the ACBC, said the imperative to work together to address the climate change issues is key to not only addressing the challenges of the field but catalyzing a new form of collaboration between China and Australia.

"As we put climate collaboration at the center of our efforts, Australia and China already have a strong track record of innovative collaboration across multiple sectors and industries. This is a solid basis from which we can work together going forward," he said.

Australia has the expertise and resources to support decarbonization activities in the Chinese economy, and China in turn offers ideas, technology and capital that can support industrial transformation through the creation of new jobs and industries in Australia, he said.

Ren Hongbin, chairman of both the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the CCOIC, said economic and trade cooperation drives China-Australia relations and the two countries are expected to deepen their close collaboration in energy, resources and commodity trade, to jointly contribute more to addressing climate change.

He said he expects China and Australia to strengthen policy coordination, intensify pragmatic cooperation and adhere to innovation-driven strategy in this regard.

The CCPIT is willing to work with its counterparts in various countries, to strengthen communication and experience-sharing on low-carbon product standards and low-carbon industry policies, and thus promote mutual understanding of technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures among all the parties concerned, and thereby reduce technical and standard-related market barriers, he said.

Tian Yongzhong, vice-president of Aluminum Corp of China, said China and Australia have a strong cooperation foundation for industrial cooperation as Australia is rich in nonferrous metal resources and has a complete industrial chain in the field, while China ranks first in the world in terms of nonferrous metal industry scale, with internationally leading technologies and equipment in the field.

"We (China and Australia) have similarities in industries and share same decarbonization objectives. Win-win cooperation is the historical trend," Tian said.

Jakob Stausholm, Rio Tinto's CEO, said he is particularly excited about the opportunities arising from China and Australia's shared interest in solving the global challenge of climate change and managing the transition to a low-carbon economy.

"Stronger cooperation between Australian iron ore producers and the Chinese iron and steel industry could have a major impact on global carbon emissions," he said.

"I hope we can build on our strong history and create a new generation of pioneering collaboration between Australia and China that drives and prospers from the transition to a sustainable low-carbon economy," he added.