Commerce plans energy trade mission to China

The U.S. Commerce and Energy departments are planning a business development mission to China in April focused on energy trade.    The U.S. Commerce and Energy departments are planning a business development mission to China in April focused on energy trade.
   “The trade mission will help U.S. companies launch or increase their business in China in areas such as green buildings, building-energy retrofitting, building management, green data centers, carbon-capture utilization and storage, energy-efficiency technologies, clean-air and water technologies, waste-treatment technologies, smart grid and green transportation,” Commerce said in a statement.
   This mission is one of several efforts following the joint US.-China announcement on Nov. 12 in Beijing concerning the two countries’ post-2020 climate targets. China is the world’s largest energy consumer and the leading emitter of greenhouse gases. Commerce said this mission will help China meet its stated goal of peaking CO2 emissions around 2030, and increasing their non-fossil fuel share of all energy to around 20 percent by 2030. 
   The mission will include executives from 20 to 25 companies. (Businesses interested in participating in this trade mission should complete an online application at the China mission website. The application deadline is Jan. 23.)
   This will be Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker’s fifth trade mission since taking office in June 2013. 
   U.S. goods exports to China in 2013 were $121.7 billion, up 10.2 percent from the previous year. Corresponding U.S. imports from China were $440.4 billion, up 3.5 percent, according to Commerce’s trade statistics.