Sweden, one of the world's leading countries in clean technology, is aggressively looking for opportunities to partner with China, one of the world's larger "green" markets.

China has vowed to cut its energy consumption per unit of GDP by some 20 percent from 2005 to 2010. It has also agreed to reduce emissions of its main pollutants by 10 percent.

The government's directive has created enormous opportunities for investors at home and abroad in the search for advanced technologies to help clean up the environment and improve energy efficiencies.

The China Greentech Report 2009, released earlier this month, stated that China's green technology market would attract more investments and estimated the market had a potential value of up to $1 trillion annually.

"Sweden is a world leader in both clean technologies and clean-technology applications, with numerous opportunities for foreign investors in renewable energy and sustainable technologies," Per-Erik Sandlund, president and director general of Invest in Sweden Agency (ISA), said in an exclusive interview with China Business Weekly.

ISA is a government agency under the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs that informs foreign investors about business and investment opportunities in Sweden - including bilateral investments in clean technologies.

"The Swedish government has consistently put a lot of money into research and innovation of clean technologies, and there is a big emphasis on it in our government budget," Sandlund said.

The country's clean-tech industry comprises 3,600 companies with 46,000 employees, he said. Companies such as Alfa Laval, Evac and Purac make up the country's green industry cluster.

Those clean-tech companies contributed to Sweden's exports, which grew by 75 percent during a three-year period ending in 2006.

Chinese President Hu Jintao said during a State visit to Sweden in 2007 that the two countries should work together in fields such as telecommunications, environmental protection and energy conservation.

Memorandum

Later, the two countries signed a formal Memorandum of Understanding to encourage bilateral cooperation on energy conservation and environmental protection.

"The two countries have huge potential to cooperate in the fields of wind power, solar energy, biofuel and so on," Sandlund said.

According to statistics, about 40 percent of Sweden's energy consumption is sourced from renewable energy resources, well ahead of the European Union average of 8.5 percent.

China has set a target of using renewable resources to meet 40 percent of its energy needs by 2050.

Thus, countries like China have turned to Sweden in search of new clean-tech solutions.

Chinese energy giant State Grid Corp, through its subsidiary National Bio Energy, and China's Dragon Power Group Ltd have invested in a Swedish bio-energy joint venture called NBE Sweden.

"Our investment in cellulose-based ethanol production in Sweden is aimed at developing technology for biomass power generation projects in China," said Kai Johan Jiang, chairman of Dragon Power Group and National Bio Energy Group Ltd China.

"Success will set a good example for China-Sweden cooperation in the areas of environmental protection, improvement of rural living standards and development of alternative energy," Kai said.

ISA's Sandlund said Chinese enterprises might first invest in a small-scale research and development (R&D) center in Sweden, and work with the Swedish companies.

Then they might set up joint ventures and bring their technologies to China for broader commercialization and utilization, he said.

"Apart from directly buying technologies or importing professionals, it is more effective and sustainable for Chinese companies to be more involved in R&D for new technologies by taking advantages of laboratory resources in Sweden," Sandlund said.

Eco-cities

Eddie Chen, chief representative of ISA China and also chief investment advisor for the Embassy of Sweden, said that Sweden also has expertise in "eco-city" development, which involves building urban infrastructure that does not cause as much environmental harm as traditional projects.

China and Sweden earlier this year became partners in the construction of an eco-city in Caofeidian in Hebei province.

Under the partnership agreement, Sweco, a Swedish engineering firm, will send more than 40 designers and experts to be in charge of the design and layout of the city. The engineers also will oversee energy management, water treatment, waste treatment and also emission reduction and energy conservation in architecture and transportation.