MORE TO BE DONE: U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu gives a speech on clean energy and climate change at Tsinghua University in Beijing on July 15 (CFP)

Clean energy has become a promising area for China-U.S. partnership that will contribute to the long-term stability and growth of the two countries' relations, said Chinese and American international studies experts. The recent visit of two U.S. cabinet secretaries to China is expected to further energize cooperation in this area.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and Energy Secretary Steven Chu visited China on July 14-17, a visit that highlighted the huge potential for developing mutually beneficial relations in the clean energy sector.

At a meeting with Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming on July 15, Locke said he hopes the United States and China will actively work together to develop clean energy and cope with climate change, thus creating more opportunities for cooperation, according to a news release from China's Ministry of Commerce.

The Chinese Government attaches great importance to climate change, energy conservation and emissions reduction and has set clear goals for emissions reduction. Given the tremendous potential for cooperation in these fields, China is willing to work closely with the United States on technological development, investment and trade, such as jointly pursuing energy saving and environmental protection demonstration projects, Chen said.

Long-term benefits

The visit of Locke and Chu was aimed at making preparations for the first China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue at the end of this month and strengthening cooperation with China in the energy sector to advance the Obama administration's "green diplomacy," said Yuan Peng, Director of the Institute of American Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

The China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue is a regular high-level dialogue between the two countries created by Chinese President Hu Jintao and U.S. President Barack Obama at their first meeting in London in April. Replacing two separate dialogues under the George W. Bush administration, it is designed to address a wide range of bilateral, regional and global security and economic issues. The first dialogue is scheduled to be held in Washington, D.C. on July 27-28.

China and the United States share common understanding on climate change and new energy and are willing to work together in these fields, Yuan said. Despite the positive factors, disagreements remain, he said. "While China stands for 'common but differentiated responsibilities,' the United States calls on China to undertake responsibilities beyond its national power and stage of development," he said. "Moreover, the United States is reluctant to sell or transfer its sophisticated technology to China."

"Carbon tariffs" pose another major barrier, Yuan added. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act in June, allowing the government to establish tariffs against trade partners that fail to meet U.S. greenhouse gas emission standards.

China is opposed to carbon tariff policies in international trade, Chen said at his meeting with Locke. He pointed out that carbon tariffs run counter to the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" defined in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol, and are actually becoming a new excuse for trade protectionism.

Since it needs China's support to ensure the success of the Copenhagen international climate change conference at the end of this year, the United States has to make some compromises, Yuan said. A breakthrough could be made in technology transfer, he said.

Cooperation in the clean energy sector may help mitigate "long-term bottlenecks" in China-U.S. relations such as trade friction and Washington's restrictions on hi-tech exports to China, Yuan said. Breakthroughs in technology transfer may not only substantially reduce U.S. trade deficit with China, but also strengthen the two countries' strategic trust, he added.

Taiya M. Smith, a visiting scholar in the Carnegie Energy and Climate Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said that collaboration between China and the United States in clean energy is important because the two countries face similar challenges in the energy and environmental areas. Their efforts to work together in these areas will benefit both countries, she said.

"I think cooperation, especially in clean energy, is one of those things that help to give momentum, help to give all of us the strength to continue very complicated and difficult negotiations in the future," she said.

The biggest problem in U.S.-China relations is that each side still has doubts about the long-term intentions of the other after 30 years of diplomatic relations, said Kenneth Lieberthal, a onetime presidential advisor on Asia during the Clinton administration and now a professor of political science at the University of Michigan. But wide-ranging, long-term cooperation in clean energy development can promote mutual trust, because it links the two countries' future together over the long run in a positive way, he said.

"I think this can have a significant and constructive impact on U.S.-China relations going forward," he said. "This area is so important that if we cannot cooperate, I think it could become an additional source of distrust."

Technology focus

China and the United States announced plans to establish a joint clean energy research center on July 15, following Chinese State Councilor Liu Yandong's meeting with Locke and Chu. The project will be carried out by China's Ministry of Science and Technology and National Energy Administration and the U.S. Department of Energy. With initial financing of $15 million and headquarters in both countries, the center will focus on coal and clean buildings and vehicles.

Smith told Beijing Review that the establishment of the joint clean energy research center recognized the ability of the United States and China to work together in the development of clean energy.

When the United States and China created the 10-year framework for energy and environment cooperation as part of their Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED), it was clear that the two countries have a lot to learn from each other, she said.

"By putting together the best minds in the United States and China, we can make progress on the issues of clean energy that we have not yet been able to make," Smith said. Climate change negotiations exemplify the long-term profitable cooperation between the United States and China and there is no reason to slow down cooperation, she added.

At the fourth SED in Annapolis in June 2008, China and the United States signed a 10-Year Energy and Environment Cooperation Framework and announced the first five goals to be addressed under the framework. At the fifth SED in Beijing in December 2008, they reached consensus on action plans for each of the five goals, including clean, efficient and secure electricity production and transmission; clean water; clean air; clean and efficient transportation; and conservation of forests and wetlands ecosystems.

The opportunities for cooperation on clean energy technology development between China and the United States have been scaling up, said Lieberthal. He believes it is important for both countries and for the world that China and the United States work together effectively along with others on this major issue.

"Fundamentally, the climate change negotiations are economic and in some ways trade discussions," Smith said. "So we'll need to work together to find solutions to those issues. The announcement [to establish a joint clean energy research center] demonstrates that we don't need to slow down coming up with technical solutions in improving the technology in this area while managing the political discussion."

(With reporting by Chen Wen in New York)