China's economic achievements in renewable energy show that fighting climate change is a win-win solution for all, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said during a visit to Beijing.

Barroso was speaking at the opening of the Europe-China Clean Energy Centre (EC2) at Tsinghua University on Friday, April 30.

"China is making significant efforts to cope with climate change and the investment is already paying off in economic terms," Barroso said. "China is a leader in some renewable technologies, such as solar panels."

He said this kind of success is one of the reasons Europe believes an international treaty on climate change would be a win-win solution for all.

"It's clear to me that we can't regulate greenhouse gas emissions without slowing down our economies," Barroso said. "There are some costs. But we also have to think of the costs of not taking action now."

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso opened the Europe-China Clean Energy Centre together with Zhang Junbao, head of the National Energy Administration, on April 30 at Tsinghua University. [China.org.cn]

Zhang Guobao, head of the National Energy Administration, said at the opening ceremony that the EU is China's largest source of technology transfer, with over 30,000 items relating to clean energy technologies such as solar power and nuclear energy.

EU Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger said, "We need to put dialogue into action and this makes EC2 a really important project between the EU and China. It will promote increased use of clean energy in China, build a platform for private companies and governments, and a window to EU's energy projects."

On the same day, China and the EU set up a ministerial-level mechanism of dialogue and cooperation on climate change during a meeting between China's climate change envoy Xie Zhenhua and Connie Hedegaard, the EU commissioner for climate action,

According to a joint statement released after the meeting, the two sides agreed to step up joint efforts and work closely under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol to reach a positive outcome at the COP 16 climate change conference in Cancun, Mexico at the end of 2010.

Barroso briefly reviewed the 35-year history of the European Union in his speech, and praised China's development during the opening up policy of the past 30 years. He said that the EU and China would continue to support each other over the next 35 years.

The EU-China Clean Energy Center is a project jointly set up by the European Commission, the National Energy Administration and the Ministry of Commerce of China.

Barroso will continue his Chinese trip by participating in the opening ceremony of the Shanghai World Expo 2010. He will also meet with President Hu Jintao on May 1.