TMG Ottawa/China Chongqing leg of visitanother interesting developement (part of article below)
Chongqing Rises
By Mike Darch Thursday, April 15th, 2010
Then came our trip to and briefing on the New North Zone. This area was farmland a few short few years ago. The region could be planned from scratch and did not face the challenges of the river gorges in the city centre.
The rookies went from wondering why we had chosen Chongqing as an area of focus, to "are we in China or in Silicon Valley?" The streetscapes, the buildings, the landscaping and even the BMW’s and Audi’s all could have been in Palo Alto. OK, the Chinese characters on the buildings and the distinct lack of sun did let you know this was China, but our Starbucks addicts never had a problem!
I have commented in the past on the Chinese commitment to the low carbon environment, and it was clearly seen in two of our meetings. Some of our delegation had visited the China Energy Conservation Investment Corporation (CECIC)
in Beijing and we visited their office in Chongqing. The City is a major industrial location and does face significant challenges as it struggles to meet China’s new low carbon goals. Chongqing has been chosen by the Chinese government as the pilot large city to identify the major obstacles to meeting the low carbon targets. A major question that they are trying to address is how to identify technology solutions and link them to the market needs. CECIC is developing a platform that links market need, technology and funding. This is exactly the type of vehicle that will allow our emerging companies like Plasco, Clearford and Thermal Energy to better partner in China.
Our meeting with Chongqing Energy Investment Group also proved to be fruitful. They are one of the largest power suppliers in the region with over 2.3 million households on their grid. If you look at their challenge, they are in a market in which demand is growing both from increasing population and the movement to a new level of economic importance, and yet new standards of carbon footprint must be met. They are experimenting with a variety of clean energy alternatives, including options for energy reduction.