Opportunities increasing between EU, China on green technology cooperation

Experts say more cooperation on green technologies is expected between the European Union (EU) and China during the next 10 or 20 years, as enterprises and industry associations from both sides are engaging in communication during an ongoing series of forums in Brussels dedicated to green design.

The EU-China ties have entered a new era, bringing more opportunities on green technology cooperation, and moreover, both sides have strong will to explore synergy between their development, said Jo Leinen, chair of the European Parliament's Delegation for relations with China, at the 2016 World Green Design Forum (WGDF) Brussels summit.

Themed "New cooperation opportunities of green design between China and the EU" and scheduled to last seven days until Oct. 19, the summit is organized by the World Green Design Organization (WGDO), a non-profit international organization founded in Brussels in 2013 to promote the development of green design throughout the world.  

This year's summit has attracted representatives of governments, international organizations, professional institutions, enterprises and the design sector from more than 20 countries.

Leinen, who is also co-chairman of WGDF, told the summit here that WGDO will be one of the boosters for the EU-China cooperation on green technology. As a member of the European Parliament, Leinen said he will support the work of WGDO and hope to see more help from the European side.

Zhang Zhiqin, minister-counsellor of the Chinese Mission to the EU, told the event that environmental pollution has become a global problem and green design will be an essential theme of global sustainable development.

"We expect that increasing exchanges and cooperation between China and Europe will contribute to global green development, constructing and sharing ecological civilization," he added.

The summit consists of a main forum and sub-forums dedicated to green building materials, green furniture, and so on.

According to Shi Dinghuan, chairman of WGDO, the WGDF has been held for the last six years in a row since 2011 to promote the concept of "green design" all over the world.