E3G

EU-China cooperation: support for Low Carbon Economic Zones

By Nick Mabey

Back in November, we launched the ‘Changing Climates’ report [4Mb pdf] we authored alongside Chatham House as part of our joint project on Interdependencies on Energy and Climate Security for China and Europe.

Since then, a Chinese version has been launched in Beijing, and interest continues to grow around its innovative proposals.

Senior Chinese economist Angang Hu has added his voice to the discussion, supporting key ideas from the report in an article published on the Changing Climates forum of ChinaDialogue.

Starting with the view that “The extent to which China and Europe cooperate will be an important factor in determining the success or failure of global attempts to tackle climate change”, he states that

There is strong political will in China—from the party and government—to achieve scientific green development and establish a harmonious society. Tackling climate change and achieving energy and climate security are in themselves key aspects of China’s “scientific outlook on development”. As Changing Climates, a report from UK think-tank Chatham House, states: “China’s strategic aspiration towards an innovation-based economy with science-based development – as enunciated at the 17th Party Congress in October 2007 – is in line with the vision for a low-carbon transition. A focus on developing and deploying advanced climate technologies is also consistent with China’s aspiration to move up the global value chain.” “

He then goes on to underline the importance of EU-China cooperation in a number of areas, including the innovative idea of Low Carbon Economic Zones:

“Establishing a Low Carbon Special Economic Zone in China. China is in the process of defining specialised functional zones in order to optimise production structures. I believe optimisation of energy consumption is the most crucial factor. The Low Carbon Special Economic Zone should not be limited to attracting investment on research and high-end production. It should also have an optimal energy consumption structure and conserve energy. The Low Carbon Special Economic Zone could be implemented in one of the current functional zones. It would be required to meet strict environmental standards. The zone could become a powerful model for the promotion of energy conservation and emissions reductions across China.”

Angang Hu is professor of Public Policy & Management at Tsinghua University and director of the influential policy think tank, the Center for China Studies, Chinese Academy of Sciences/Tsinghua University. He did his post-doctoral research at Yale University and was a visiting professor at Harvard University and Keio University, Japan.