The Shandong-Netherlands Clean Energy Cooperation and Exchange Conference was held on May 26 in Jinan, capital of Shandong province.

The event was hosted by the Foreign Affairs Office of the Shandong Provincial People's Government, the Dutch Embassy in China, and the Netherlands Business Support Offices and attended by about 150 participants, including government officials and representatives of energy enterprises from both sides.

The Shandong-Netherlands Clean Energy Cooperation and Exchange Conference is held on May 26 in Jinan, Shandong province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

During his speech, Cai Xianjin, director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Shandong Provincial People's Government, said that Shandong will intensify efforts to integrate with and serve the new development paradigm, accelerate green and low-carbon development, broaden channels for international cooperation in the field of clean energy, and help Shandong achieve the strategic goals of peaking carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality.

"The Netherlands is an important advocate and leader in addressing climate change, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and implementing green and low-carbon development," said Cai, adding that it leads in offshore wind power, hydrogen energy, and other fields, and has a number of outstanding enterprises consistent with Shandong's development strategy and needs.

Cai expressed hope that enterprises on both sides would take the conference as an opportunity to carry out in-depth exchange, learn from each other, and advance cooperation so as to promote the comprehensive upgrading of bilateral clean energy cooperation.

Wim Geerts, Dutch ambassador to China, said that the Chinese government will adopt more forceful policies and measures to reach a peak in carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, while the Netherlands is also committed to tackling climate change and has pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 95 percent (compared to the 1990 level) by 2050.

Wim Geerts, Dutch ambassador to China [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

"We have taken several actions in the field of energy transition, one of which was developing offshore wind. We made a clear 'offshore wind development road map' up until 2030. With the joint efforts of the government, institutions, and the private sector, we managed to reduce offshore wind power costs to the extent that developers no longer need subsidies," said Geerts.

According to the ambassador, Sino-Dutch energy cooperation started about 10 years ago and has shifted more towards renewable energy in recent years, including clean coal, gas, offshore wind, hydrogen, biofuels, and bio-energy.

"Shandong province and the Netherlands have a lot in common where energy transition, developing renewable energy, and decarbonizing the economy are concerned," he said, adding that the two sides enjoy huge cooperation potential in clean energy.

"Through joint efforts, we can increase the amount of green energy in the world," he said.

Over the years, Shandong and the Netherlands have maintained close cooperation and frequent exchanges. Official statistics show that last year, Shandong's imports and exports to the Netherlands were valued at 39.3 billion yuan ($6.15 billion), an increase of 29.8 percent year-on-year. In the first quarter of this year, its trade with the Netherlands hit 11.14 billion yuan, up 75.8 percent.