Secretary Clinton To Praise Announcement of Six New U.S.-China EcoPartnerships on May 10

Notice to the Press

Office of the Spokesman

Washington, DC

May 9, 2011

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On May 10, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will deliver opening remarks at a signing ceremony for six new U.S.-China EcoPartnerships, taking place alongside the third annual U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED), at the Department of State.

Secretary Clinton will speak at approximately 9:30 a.m. Chinese Minister Xie Zhenhuas will speak on behalf of the Chinese government. Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Dr. Kerri-Ann Jones and the Secretary’s Special Representative for Global Intergovernmental Affairs Reta Jo Lewis will also attend the ceremony.

Established under the Ten Year Framework on Energy and Environmental Cooperation (TYF), the EcoPartnerships program formally links U.S. and Chinese stakeholders to work on clean energy and sustainable development. Through seven existing partnerships, stakeholders are already sharing best practices on preventing air pollution, protecting water resources, rebuilding after natural disasters, developing electric vehicles and wind energy technologies, and safeguarding natural habitats.

Following Secretary Clinton’s opening remarks, a memorandum of understanding will be signed between six new EcoPartnerships:

• Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, OH) with the China National Off-shore Oil Corp – New Energy Investment Co, Ltd. (Beijing, China)
• Duke Energy (Charlotte, NC) and the city of Charlotte, NC, with ENN Solar Energy Group (Langfang) and the city of City of Langfang (China)
• The State of Utah with Qinghai Province (China)
• Center for Climate Strategies (Washington, DC) with Global Environmental Institute (Beijing, China)
• United States Business Council for Sustainable Development (Austin, TX) with China Business Council for Sustainable Development (Beijing, China)
• Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN), the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Oak Ridge, TN) with the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research (Beijing, China), Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences (Beijing, China), and Institute of Applied Ecology (Shenyang, China).