The United Kingdom will provide China 50 million pounds
(US$97.76 million) from the British Environmental Transformation
Fund to support investment in energy efficiency and renewable
resources.
The money will be used to extend the European Union-China
near-zero emission coal program and other environmental protection
projects, visiting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in
Shanghai yesterday.
The announcement came after Brown rounded up his trip in Beijing
earlier in the day and arrived in Shanghai for the second leg of
his three-day China visit.
"We (China and Britain) have entered a new era where there's a
higher level of dialogue and cooperation," Brown told a press
conference after meeting Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng yesterday.
"Today I want to mention that the higher level of cooperation is
now existing," Brown said.
"Two countries will lead the world in creating eco-cities ...
that is, China and Britain."
After signing an agreement on clean-energy development in
Beijing on Friday, in Shanghai yesterday Brown also witnessed the
signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding for British and
Chinese companies to develop a funding model for eco-cities in
China.
The Shanghai Industrial Investment Corporation, one of China's
largest property developers, contracted Arup, a UK-based global
design engineering and business consulting firm, to design a
sustainable development model for Dongtan, the eco-city on
Chongming Island.
Designed to hold a population of up to 10,000 by 2010, Dongtan
is expected to demonstrate a sustainable town that runs on
renewable energy. This includes its buildings, infrastructure and
transport needs.
About 90 percent of all waste in the eco-city will be recovered,
recycled or reused, with the eventual aim of becoming a zero-waste
city, project managers said.
SIIC and Arup, together with HSBC and Sustainable Development
Capital LLP, also agreed to set up the Dongtan Institute for
Sustainability in Tongji University for research into the
eco-city.
Also yesterday, Brown formally handed over the UK's Shanghai
Expo 2010 participation document to Mayor Han - an event which
marked the official acceptance by Britain of the invitation to
participate in the Expo.
He said visitors to the 2010 World Expo might be amazed by the
innovative and visually attractive design of the British Pavilion.
But they are sure to be even more excited when seeing exhibits that
British firms display.
During his one-day visit to the city, Brown also met Shanghai
Party Secretary Yu Zhengsheng, dropped in to the Shanghai Museum
and the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall and watched the
Shanghai Cerebral Palsy Football Team train.
The Browns leave for India today.
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(Shanghai Daily January 20, 2008)
