Analysis by Xinhua writers Tan Jingjing, Huang Heng, Gao Shan
LAS VEGAS – Clean energy professionals participating in North America’s leading clean energy expo are calling for greater US-China cooperation to address climate change.
“RE+ 2023,” convening this week in Las Vegas, Nevada, has drawn over 30,000 attendees and more than 1,300 exhibitors around the globe. The show offers a platform to share best practices in clean energy solutions and expand business prospects.
Over 300 Chinese companies are participating in the expo, ranging from solar, energy storage, hydrogen, to EV infrastructure, microgrids, wind and more, according to “RE+ Events,” the expo organizer.
The competency and dominance of Chinese companies in offering clean energy solutions have got full recognition from their overseas counterparts.
Eric Tooley, director of Jiachi West, a Texas-based company specializing in energy project development – including solar, wind and battery, told Xinhua that most clean energy products nowadays like solar panels and batteries are from Chinese manufacturers.
“China is well positioned to be the world leader of green energy products. It is the number one provider of panels on the planet,” he said.
Chinese companies make lots of the best clean energy products at really excellent price, Tooley told Xinhua in an interview.
However, the regulation differences between China and the United States that started with the trade war have posed setbacks for bilateral cooperation, he noted.
“The regulations around where the lithium is coming from, and all those rules, they make it so complicated for us on our side,” he added.
“All of the tension between the US and China is setting us back ... here is no room for lack of cooperation between the countries,” Tooley said.
He voiced his hope that relations between the two countries will be stabilized, to jointly address energy crisis and climate challenges.
Tooley said his company hopes to reach out to more potential Chinese partners at “RE+ 2023,” and help them explore the American green energy market.
Sherry Hu, city council member of Dublin, a city in California’s East Bay region, called for closer collaboration between the United States and China to address global warming.
“Both of the two countries have their own advantages,” Hu told Xinhua in an interview, adding that the United States and China have to work together as a team to address serious challenges of climate change for the whole world.
Hu said she shared clean energy projects and practices in her city, which has added a lot of solar panels on the roofs and parking lots.
“Everywhere in my city, there are a lot of Chinese Americans that contributed to the clean energy projects, the designs. We are so proud of their contribution,” Hu said.
She said a large piece of land in Dublin, invested by a Chinese-US joint venture company, will be developed into an economic development zone. The city is considering offering economic stimulation policies for the zone to attract clean energy and high-tech companies.
“By doing so, we hope we can contribute to addressing challenges like global warming,” Hu said.
Xinhua Zhou, CEO of Zhejiang Wolong Energy Storage System Co., LTD, a Chinese clean energy company, said the development of new energy is a global trend.
“We are willing to deliver the best clean energy products and services to the world, to enhance cooperation and jointly promote the development of renewable energy industry,” he told Xinhua.
– Xinhua
