Ｃｈｉｎａ－ＮＳＷ Ｃｌｉｍａｔｅ Ｃｈａｎｇｅ Ｆｏｒｕｍ Ｈｅｌｄ ｉｎ Ｓｙｄｎｅｙ

The China-NSW Climate Change Forum cosponsored by the CPAFFC and the New South Wales (NSW) Government was held in Sydney on November 20， 2008. About 100 people including Deputy Director of the China National Development and Reform Commission Xie Zhenhua， CPAFFC Vice President Li Xiaolin， NSW Premier Nathan Rees， NSW Minister for Primary Industries Ian MacDonald and representatives from relevant Chinese and Australian research institutes and enterprises attended the forum. The forum provided a platform for the Chinese and Australian representatives to have discussions on and exchanges in the fields of energy conservation， greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction and clean development mechanisms，and achieved success.

The China-NSW Climate Change Forum was held in the wake of the Australia-China Ministerial Dialogue on Climate Change held in Australia in November 2008. About 30 Chinese representatives from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC)， the Global Climate Change Institute of Tsinghua University and other relevant research institutes as well as from enterprises including China Huaneng Group and China Datang Corporation attended this forum. About 70 Australian representatives from the NSW Government， the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change， the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization， the Price Waterhouse Coopers and other enterprises were present at the forum.

The forum was presided over by Dr. Mary O’Kane， chief scientist of NSW. After CPAFFC Vice President Li Xiaolin and NSW Premier Nathan Rees gave welcome addresses， Xie Zhenhua， deputy director of the NDRC， made a key-note speech. In his speech he briefed on the policies and measures adopted by the Chinese Government to adapt and respond to climate change and the achievements made in recent years. He said that as a responsible big country， China attaches great importance to the issue of climate change and always takes a positive and constructive attitude towards the international cooperation in addressing climate change. In her speech， Vice President Li gave a brief account of CPAFFC’s work， and said that the CPAFFC is willing to carry out wide-range exchanges and cooperation including tackling climate change with various circles of Australia. She also expressed the hope that Chinese and Australian friends of various circles would continue to pay close attention to and support other activities of the “action for promoting China-Australia friendly relations” sponsored by the CPAFFC.

Premier Rees said， tackling climate change needs cooperation of all countries in the world. Since New South Wales State and Guangdong Province formed friendship-statepro- vince ties in 1979， the two sides have carried out frequent contacts and developed friendly relations continuously. With China’s steady rise in its international standing， NSW earnestly hopes to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with China in all fields including environmental protection. Premier Rees stressed that China is NSW’s largest trade partner， and the NSW Government attaches great importance to developing friendly and cooperative relations with China， and will as always give help within its power to the work of developing people-to-people friendship between Australia and China. In his speech， Minister Ian MacDonald said that climate change has widely affected every corner of global politics and economy， and the NSW Government， fully aware of the importance of tackling climate change， is actively carrying out actions and has made some achievements in GHG emission reduction and energy conservation. And he added that NSW and China have already signed a number of memorandums on cooperation， and this forum is a very important step in the process of bilateral cooperation.

At the forum， representatives of both sides made speeches on policies to tackle climate change， technological cooperation in reducing GHG emission， research on clean energy technology， clean development mechanisms， etc. During the tea break and lunch time， they had discussions on the fields they were interested in. After the forum， the Chinese representatives visited the School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering and had discussions with the school’s leading officials on renewable energy and other hot issues.

The China-NSW Climate Change Forum has achieved its desired results and evoked warm repercussions from various sides. The representatives of relevant Chinese departments， research institutes and enterprises attending the forum held that the successful forum has provided a platform for the exchanges and cooperation in addressing climate change between the governments as well as enterprises of the two countries. NSW Premier Rees said that the forum has deepened Australia’s understanding of China’s policies and stance on addressing climate change， and also made him see the broad prospects of future bilateral cooperation in tackling climate change. Minister Ian MacDonald， who had visited China twice at the invitation of the CPAFFC， spoke highly of the huge success of the forum and expressed his appreciation to the CPAFFC for its efforts over the years to promote people-to-people exchanges between Australia and China.