The first meeting of the Sino-German working group on climate change took place in Beijing on 28 and 29 October 2010. The Federal Government's inter-ministerial delegation was headed by Dr Urban Rid, Director-General at the Federal Environment Ministry and the Chinese delegation was led by Mr Su Wei, Director-General at the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). The Sino-German working group on climate change was established during Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao's visit to Germany in 2009 by a cooperation agreement on combating climate change signed by both governments.
In the course of the meeting it became evident that there was a will on both sides to intensify the cooperation at the political level and to underpin this through concrete projects. The working group focused its discussions on national strategies to combat climate change, measures at regional level such as low-carbon pilot projects, emissions trading and fiscal issues, monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions, mitigation of emissions in the building sector, electric mobility and a range of concrete projects. The next meeting of the working group is due to take place in Berlin in September 2011. The working will take stock of the cooperation on the topics discussed at the first meeting and on renewable energies and it will reassess the course to be taken.
Discussions at a meeting between Dr Rid and his colleague from the Chinese Environment Ministry Xu Qinghua centred around the preparations for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio plus 20) due to take place in Rio de Janeiro in Mai 2012. The conference will focus on the topics "green economy" and a review of the UN structure in the area of environmental and sustainable development. China and Germany will cooperate in both policy fields.