China's booming clean tech sector drives stellar growth for GE

As US and Chinese diplomats face off in Copenhagen, one company is serving to highlight the huge environmental and economic benefits that could accrue from improved collaboration between the two economic giants.

Engineering giant General Electric (GE) reported earlier this week that its Ecomagination clean tech products and services generated sales in China of $656m (£404m) during the first half of the year, an improvement of 50 per cent on the same period in 2008.

The company also signaled that the rapid growth rates are likely to continue, revealing that it has now signed 20 memorandums of understanding with central and local government bodies and 10 agreements with state-owned enterprises and Chinese universities this year, the majority of which focus on energy-efficient solutions.

GE, which has invested heavily in developing a wide range of low-carbon products, including wind turbines, water management and smart grid systems and clean coal technologies, said that its performance in China provided evidence of the country's commitment to environmental improvements.

Mark Norbom, president and chief executive of GE Greater China, said the company was encouraged by its recent performance and was now "focused on continuing to increase partnerships with Chinese government bodies and companies, as well as expanding our offerings of products and services for the energy efficiency, new and renewable energy, clean coal technology and water conservation sectors".

In related news, GE announced that it plans to develop a manufacturing facility for smart grid-compatible washers and dryers at its Appliance Park in Louisville, Kentucky.

The company said the move would create 430 jobs and result in new smart washers and dryers being produced at the site from 2012.