Climate-KIC CEO signs partnership agreement in Beijing

The EIT’s Climate-KIC and the Chinese city of Tianjin have agreed to collaborate in the ‘JiefangNan Rd New Meijiang pilot’, a low carbon city project. The agreement was signed in Beijing in the presence of China’s Premier Li Keqiang and President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso.

Climate-KIC chief executive Mary Ritter and District Mayor Peng San of Tianjin City’s Hexi District formalised the agreement by signing a statement of intent in the Chinese capital’s Great Hall of the People, where the EU-China Summit is taking place this week.

Ritter said: “It is very exciting for Climate-KIC to establish a collaborative relationship with one of China’s most dynamic cities – to develop projects at the heart of the city’s sustainable development challenges. I am sure Climate-KIC’s community will learn a lot from collaborating with our colleagues in Tianjin.”

Climate-KIC and the city of Tianjin intend to establish a long-term collaborative relationship on projects that stimulate sustainable growth and are currently developing plans for pilot projects on green building retrofit and smart city systems.

“Chinese cities are on the frontline in facing the combined challenges of climate change, sustainable development and demographic change. How China urbanises in the coming decades is critical for China and the wider world,” Ritter added.

The Memorandum of Understanding is underpinned by an agreement between China’s National Development and Reform Commission and the European Commission’s DG for Energy, within the EU-China Urbanisation Partnership.