Secretary Pritzker and Deputy Energy Secretary Sherwood-Randall Meet with Chinese Leadership on Clean Energy Cooperation

This week, Secretary Pritzker and Energy Department Deputy Secretary Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall kicked off their joint energy focused trade mission in Beijing, China. Secretary Pritzker and Deputy Secretary Sherwood-Randall began the mission meeting with several Chinese government officials underscoring the importance of collaboration to the bilateral relationship between the United States and China.

 

To start the mission, Secretary Pritzker met with her counterpart Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng to highlight the U.S government’s commitment to strengthening commercial tiesbetween the two countries. She and Deputy Secretary Sherwood-Randall also met with Liu He, the Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, to discuss U.S. policy priorities and his views regarding the direction of China’s economic reforms. 

 

Secretary Pritzker and Deputy Secretary Sherwood-Randall also held a number of separate meetings with Premier Li Kequiang, Vice Premier Wang Yang, and Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang, to highlight economic engagement as a critical element and necessary constant in the U.S.-China relationship. These meetings also served as opportunities to promote U.S. exports of clean energy technology products and services and highlight the innovative nature of U.S. companies, like the businesses that comprise the trade mission’s delegation.

 

President Obama and President Xi made significant announcements in last November’s historic climate agreement, and the U.S. knows that prioritizing environmental conservation can create massive economic opportunity. 

 

As the agency responsible for strengthening America’s economic ties around the world, the Department of Commerce leads the effort to fulfill President Obama’s vision for our commercial relationship through the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade; through ties of investment built through SelectUSA, the Department’s first-ever, whole-of-government initiative to attract foreign direct investment into the United States; and through trade missions like this one.

 

Secretary Pritzker, Deputy Secretary Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, and the business delegation will also travel to Shanghai and Guangzhou during this trade mission to explore more opportunities in how these companies can help China in its efforts to reach its climate change goals.