UK and China sign £10m deal to support British clean tech exporters

UK firms seeking to tap into the booming Chinese market for low-carbon technologies received a boost yesterday with the launch of a new venture.

The UK Carbon Trust, which recently opened its first office in China, has signed a £10m deal with the China Energy Conservation Investment Corporation (CECIC) which aims to increase the transfer of low-carbon businesses from the UK to China.

The new venture is also expected to provide funding for UK and Chinese low-carbon businesses operating in the country and it is attempting to raise additional third-party investment.

Wang Xiaokang, president of CECIC, said that "as the only national investment corporation specialised in the fields of energy conservation, emission reduction and environmental protection in China", the government-backed company was well placed to offer UK firms advice on how to move into the market.

The partnership could also be a forerunner to similar alliances in other emerging markets, according to Tom Delay, chief executive of the Carbon Trust. "We hope to act as a bridge for UK companies entering the Chinese low-carbon marketplace," he observed. "We want this joint venture to become a successful example of an international collaboration to accelerate low-carbon innovation and technology transfer and a framework for future international agreements."

The move is the latest in a series of measures designed to bolster trade between the two countries' emerging clean tech industries.

British government ministers have repeatedly argued that the UK will be able to export skills and technologies in fields such as clean coal and nuclear energy as China seeks to cut carbon emissions across its economy, while Chinese firms have established leadership positions in several renewable energy technologies.

British clean tech firms have also been advised to take advantage of planned Low Carbon Development Zones in China, which promise favourable tax rates and access to large markets for developers of low-carbon technologies.