Joint EU-China climate statement: Climate-KIC prioritises practical city-level collaboration

China’s President Xi visited Europe this week and reaffirmed, with EU Presidents Barroso and Van Rompuy, the importance of climate change and sustainable development for both regions.

Mary Ritter in Beijing in November 2013

In a joint statement, the leaders singled out the EU-China Urbanisation Partnership as important and called for the relationships to be translated into concrete projects on the ground. Climate-KIC is one of twelve bilateral relationships recognised within the partnership.

Climate-KIC CEO Mary Ritter said: “I can announce that we have prioritised the development of practical collaboration with China and are working closely with the European Commission, the EU Delegation in Beijing and a range of Chinese partners to form outcome-oriented relationships between the Climate-KIC network of partners and China.”

Through its relationship with Tianjin – the fourth largest city of China – Climate-KIC works on city-level initiatives on smart city development and green buildings.

A bridge between Europe and China

The EU-China Urbanisation Partnership was launched in May 2012 in Brussels, and is intended to be a milestone in the strategic relations between China and the EU.

“We are working to form a bridge between Europe and China on climate and green economic development issues,” Ritter said.

As a pan-European network with the best of Europe’s businesses, universities and public sector organisations, Climate-KIC is in a unique position to do so. “Our network is very attractive to our Chinese partners – we have operations in twelve European countries and strong links with the cities and regions in our network,” said Ritter.

Read the full press release in our newsroom.