A workshop on scientific and technological cooperation was held between China and the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Beijing on March 30th, 2017. The meeting was attended by over 50 delegates from Chinese research institutes engaging in the implementation of IEA agreements.

Chen Linhao, Deputy Director General of the Department of International Cooperation of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) addressed the meeting. He stressed that as the world is in a transition towards renewable and new energy and the clean use of traditional sources. The 13th Five-Year Plan marks a key period for China’s low-carbon transition. It is inevitable and urgent for China to speed up energy restructuring and push forward such a transition. Strengthening cooperation with the IEA and its members is therefore of great relevance for China’s further development.

2016 marked the 20th anniversary of the establishment of relationships between China and the IEA. Currently, Chinese research institutes have participated in 19 IEA technology collaboration programmes (TCPs, formally organised under the auspices of an Implementing Agreement). A comprehensive and enriched platform for international R&D cooperation in energy has been established. In 2017, MOST will host the 8th Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM8) and the 2nd Mission Innovation Ministerial (MI-2) with an aim to help the whole society address climate change, promote joint actions on clean energy and advocate clean energy cooperation. In 2015, China announced its accession to the“Mission Innovation”Initiative which has launched joint research on“innovation challenges”in seven fields. Chen encouraged relevant organizations to actively participate in CEM8 and MI-2, fully leverage the dual platforms of the IEA and the“MI”, initiate or actively engage in clean energy R&D cooperation, actively promote potential science and technology cooperation and achieve win-win outcomes.

Relevant organizations and the MOST Liaison Office to the IEA reported on their work in 2016 and exchanged ideas on work plans for 2017. Attendees also held in-depth discussions on how to use the TCP platforms which they have joined and are ready to join to carry out projects on international S&T cooperation in the context of China’s reform of the project management system, and make cooperation with the IEA more productive.

The meeting was attended by officials from the Departments of High-Tech Development and Industrialization and International Cooperation of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the MOST Liaison Office to the IEA.