US to strengthen cooperation on clean energy with China: Pritzker

WASHINGTON - US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker said on Monday it is "exciting" to bring companies to China and to share the UStechnology and capacity on clean energy.

Next month Pritzker and US Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz will lead a trade delegation of 25 American companies to visit Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou for smart cities built on clean energy.

"This is the first time two US cabinet secretaries leading a trade mission to China. It's a very special event. It really comes out of the conversation that occurred between our two governments, " Pritzker told media at the 2015 SelectUSA Investment Summit.

China wants to use new technology in clean energy production while the United States has enormous innovations on clean energy technology, Pritzker said.

Pritzker said the US and Chinese governments can create more chances to bring together two countries' companies to promote mutual investments.

"I think the first thing we can do is to bring our companies to China to meet with Chinese partners," said Pritzker.

China has become the fastest growing source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for the United States with an average annual growth rate of 41 percent from 2009 to 2013, according to the Commerce Department. But the total amount is small, only accounting for less than 1 percent of the US total FDI.

Chinese investment in the United States has been rising rapidly in recent years and it will remain bullish in the future despite some friction, Vinai Thummalapally, executive director of the SelectUSA, told Xinhua in an interview recently.

The United States and China are negotiating a bilateral investment treaty to encourage greater cross-border investment flows and strengthen economic ties between the world's two largest economies.

The 2015 SelectUSA Investment Summit attracted over 2,600 participants, including 1,300 companies from over 70 countries and regions as well as over 500 US economic development officials across the country. China tops the list of delegations for this year's Summit with about 150 investors from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong.