China and the U.S. signed agreements for eight joint projects including clean coal power plants and carbon storage on the night before the sixth US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) commenced.

Climate change, energy, and environmental issues are among the main topics in the S&ED talks. On Tuesday, National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) vice-minister Xie Zhenhua said these issues will also bring positive change to Sino-US relations.

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The two nations are working together to design a global pact on climate change that will be implemented in 2015.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Barack Obama both consider the US-China cooperation as an important factor in generating solutions for climate change, according to State Department special envoy for climate change Todd Stern. He said the two governments made significant progress in their joint efforts to beef up energy security and reduce global emissions.

The US-China Climate Change Working Group has tapped several resources to make the eight joint projects possible. Huaneng Clean Energy Research Institute will collaborate with Summit Power Group LLC to work on technology for generating clean coal power. Yanchang Petroleum Corp, West Virginia University, and Air Products and Chemicals will work together on ultra-cleaning technology.

The sixth US-China S&ED will have a separate discussion on climate change on Wednesday and Thursday.

For 2014, the climate change committee chose six new eco-partnerships. This would include those between Port of Los Angeles and Shanghai Municipal Transportation, Environmental and Defense Fund and Shenzhen Low-carbon Development Foundation, and Commerce Department of Philadelphia and Tianjin Economic Technological Development Area.

These initiatives involve the cooperation of the governments, civil society, private industry, and academia of both the US and China in solving air pollution and climate change.

NDRC researcher Shi Yulong said the joint committee has also selected 30 partnerships to date to boost Sino-US cooperation on greenhouse gas emission reduction, energy efficiency enhancement, and air pollution prevention.

TagsChina-US Climate Change deal, Strategic and Economic Dialogue