High level meetings on climate protection and environmental technologies
At the conclusion of his three-day visit to China Federal Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel declared the trip a success. "Like Germany, China is investing heavily in energy efficiency and the expansion of renewable energies. We should support these policies not only with regard to global climate protection but also because of the opportunities this entails for export", said Minister Gabriel.
During the visit Minister Gabriel met with Chinese government representatives in Guangdong (Canton) and Beijing and with representatives of companies and NGOs. During these meetings he championed a more intensive cooperation between Germany and China with regard to environmental protection and environmental technologies in particular. In meetings with representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the governmental Environment Agency SEPA Minister Gabriel underlined the need to focus on technologies for the future in the field of environmental protection. Minister Gabriel met with Zhang Yesui, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister, Zhou Shengxian, Director of SEPA, and high-level representatives of the Communist Party of China.
At the meeting with the SEPA director, both sides agreed to continue with the Strategic Environment Dialogue which was initiated during Mr Gabriel's last visit to China in 2006. It was also agreed to intensify cooperation with regard to chemicals management, waste electrical and electronic equipment and volatile organic compounds (VOC) and to start cooperation in the sector of environmental technologies which includes German participation in the environmental technology fair in July 2008.
On the first day of his visit Minister Gabriel met with representatives of the government of the Guangdong Province (Canton), which had applied to host the third Sino-German Environmental Forum. Minister Gabriel generally underlined that in future Germany wanted to cooperate more intensively with China's provinces to support the central government in implementing environmental policies. About 30 companies from various environmental technology branches used this visit as an opportunity to raise their profile and find partners for cooperation.