Sino-Swiss Low Carbon Cities Project launched in Guangzhou

Pio Wennubst, Vice Director General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (left), says Switzerland wants to share with China its experiences and the lessons the country has gained. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

A new cooperation under the Sino-Swiss Low Carbon Cities (SSLCC) Project, developed between the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Guangzhou, Capital city of Guangdong province, was inaugurated in on June 27 in Guangzhou.

The project's founding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on April 8 at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, witnessed by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Swiss President Johann Schneider-Amman.

The new cooperation between Switzerland and Guangzhou includes the establishment of a Sino-Swiss (Guangzhou) Ecological Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Industrial Park in Conghua District and a Sino-Swiss (Guangzhou) Development and Cooperation Center. The project will be implemented over the next six years.

"You might think that Switzerland is a paradise on earth but it was not always like that. We experienced tough moments before, such as acid rains and polluted dumping sites. Through years of development we've learned how big the cost of inaction is," said Pio Wennubst, Vice Director General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.

He says Switzerland wants to share with China its experiences and the lessons the country has gained.

Under the newly established Innovative Strategic Partnership between Switzerland and China, the SSLCC Project aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Chinese urban areas, while sharing Switzerland's long term experience in environmental protection, its extended technological knowledge and high innovation capacity. The project will help increase climate resilience in the Guangzhou economy and improve its environmental standards through technical cooperation and exchange platforms for political leaders, technical experts and representatives of the private sector.

The cooperation will lead to effective policy schemes for the transformation and upgrading of industrial clusters, as well as the improvement of environmental standards.

Apart from Guangzhou, four other Chinese cities – Chengdu, Chongqing, Shanghai and Yantai - signed MoUs and launched their cooperation with Switzerland under the project's framework.