The US-China Cleantech Center co-organized the 2014 China-US Business Development Mission to Beijing, Tianjin, Qingdao, and Changzhou from Dec. 7 – 13. The Mission was jointly supported by the China-US Energy Efficiency Alliance, ChinaSF, the California-China Office of Trade and Investment, and the US Commercial Service in Beijing.
During the mission our esteemed US delegates met with Chinese central and local government officials and private companies to discuss the rapidly expanding business opportunities in China’s energy efficiency market sector. This dialogue also provided an opportunity to further US-China and California-China cooperation in low carbon development.
Our US delegation consisted of several leading energy efficiency companies, including: EnerNOC, Nexant, Optony, Opower and RavenBrick. We were also honored to have the Chair of the California Energy Commission, Robert Weisenmiller, leading the group along with a small delegation of California Assembly members from the Bay Area.
The mission kicked off in at the US Embassy in Beijing with a market briefing by the US Departments of Commerce and Energy on the status of China’s energy efficiency market for US firms followed by a Roundtable with government officials from China’s central economic and energy policy planning ministry – National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), where the trade mission delegates were given the opportunity to present their innovative demand response solutions to China’s largest power company, State Grid. The US companies then met one-on-one with Chinese counterparts interested in doing business with the US.
On Day 2, the mission moved on to China’s leading second tier cities where many of the emerging opportunities lie. UCCTC led the mission delegates to Tianjin for a full-day seminar, company presentations and pre-arranged matchmaking meetings with key government officials and potential Chinese customers/partners, resulting in many new qualified leads for the US delegates to follow up on.
The delegation then travelled to Qingdao for several high-level meetings with government officials to promote and strengthen existing close commercial ties between Qingdao and San Francisco, which included a declaration from Qingdao’s Vice Mayor that they intend to set up a representative office in San Francisco to support its economic and low carbon cooperation with the US.
On the second day in Qingdao, UCCTC hosted a business-to-business matchmaking event with industry and science and technology development park representatives from the neighboring cities of Dongying, Weifang, and Linyi (Shandong Province). The event focused on bilateral cooperation between Chinese and US companies in a range of energy efficiency sub-sectors including demand response, smart grid, new energy systems, and green building products and design. Chair Weisenmiller spoke about California’s commitment to work with China to create harmonious green economies in both countries and US delegates presented their energy efficiency technologies to eager local Chinese business and government attendees, and lively one-on-one discussions ensued. In total, over 50 Chinese attendees came to listen to US attendees speak about their technologies, paving the way for potential collaboration.
The trip concluded with a trip to the city of Changzhou. The mission delegates received a personalized tour of the Wujin District Planning Exhibition Center and the Wujin National Hi-Tech Industrial Zone followed by a group meeting with key representatives from the Wujin local government, Changzhou DRC/EPA, State Grid, Changzhou Electric Power and over 10 WIZ commercial building owners, which provided an opportunity build on the recent bilateral climate change agreement, learn about relevant developments in cooperation between US and China, receive updates on California-China, and SF-China agreements, hear about relevant developments related to the Chinese EE market and opportunities for US companies, and share information on companies’ technology, products and expertise.
That afternoon was the US-China government and electric utility breakout session, providing an opportunity for US officials and Chinese government officials to meet to further discuss potential areas for clean energy cooperation and an opportunity for delegates to talk with peers in local Chinese government and potential clients at local electric utility.
Whether you are already operating in China’s energy efficiency sector, thinking about expanding, or just starting to consider entering the market, or if you like what you read here and are interested in arranging similar opportunities for your firm, we invite you to contact us at jeff@uschinacleantech.org or (213) 247-5703!
