Cooperation between China and Norway on environmental protection has moved forward with the drawing up of lists of projects around the country at the Shanghai Expo 2010 Garden.

A two-day seminar on Sino-Norwegian Environmental Collaboration at the expo, held in the Norway Pavilion earlier this month, was jointly organized by the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China and Norway's Environment Ministry. Issues under discussion at the seminar included biological diversity, climate change and pollution control.

"Norway has been a most important bilateral partner for China, involving great attention and assistance. Since 1995, we've launched the bilateral environmental cooperation, and have achieved results on cooperation projects involving air and water pollution control, hazardous waste management and protection of biological diversity, environment monitoring and supervision." Lu Xinyuan, chief engineer of the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China, said in a speech to the forum.

Since the mid-1990s, Chinese and Norwegian governments have carried out a series of active cooperation projects that focus on international environmental issues and China's needs for environmental protection. They have effectively promoted the capability for environmental protection in China.

One such initiative is The Cooperation Project on Environmentally Sound Management for Co-Processing of Hazardous Waste and Industrial Waste in Cement Kilns in China. After three years of project implementation since the agreement was signed in 2006, many cement enterprises in China have started continuous demonstrations and tests for co-processing hazardous waste in cement kilns on an industrial scale.

Reducing the emissions of industrial pollution is another area in which China and Norway entered into agreements. A project called Capacity Building in Environmental Protection Bureau in Guizhou province (Zunyi Project) came about in reaction to the official agreement on cooperation in environmental protection between China and Norway. The project was aimed at reducing industrial pollution including the amount of industrial wastewater and damage to forests and cultural monuments in Zunyi city.

From a more ecological position, China and Norway environmental departments also reached consensus on the discussion and analysis of the protection of natural reserve areas in China.