At a press conference held on July 15 at the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, WAN Gang, Minister of Science and Technology of China (MOST) ZHANG Guobao, Director-General of National Energy Administration of China (NEA) and Steven Chu, US Energy Secretary, jointly declared the establishment of China-USA Joint Research Center on Clean Energy. State Councilor LIU Yandong attended the event.

The center is aimed at facilitating joint research by scientists and engineers from both China and US in the clean energy technologies. The first priority areas for cooperation include energy-efficient buildings, clean coal technologies, and clean energy vehicles.

China and USA will together contribute 15 million US Dollars as the seed money for the research center. Matters concerning the organization and future cooperation will also be discussed by MOST, NEB and US Energy Department in the near future.