STRATEGIC-TRACK sked
REGULATORY INTELLIGENCE DATA BASE
June 07, 2016
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE STATE
AGENCY GROUP 09
202-647-4000
INDSTRY GROUP 91
REGION GROUP 04
U.S.-CHINA STRATEGIC & ECONOMIC DIALOGUE OUTCOMES OF THE STRATEGIC
TRACK - Part 3
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55. Green Ports and Vessels Initiative: The United States and China launched the Green Ports and Vessels Initiative (GPVI), a joint initiative under the Ten Year Framework on Energy and Environment and the Climate Change Working Group. Led by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China , with the Ministry of Transportation of China, the GPVI team adopted a work plan establishing priorities, activities, and anticipated achievements to reduce emissions of air pollutants and black carbon and achieve climate co-benefits. The initiative is hosting two technical capacity-building workshops in 2016 in China and the United States and is identifying demonstration pilots focused on the development of emissions inventories for air pollutants and black carbon from ports and vessels; emissions control policies, regulations, practices, and technologies; and emission control area designation, implementation and enforcement. These activities build upon China's new port and vessel emission control requirements and advance implementation of the domestic emission control areas in the Pearl and Yangtze River Deltas and parts of the Bohai Sea.
56. Clean Energy Research Center: In recognition of their commitments to continue the fruitful work under the Clean Energy Research Center (CERC), the two sides decided to hold the 8th Steering Committee Meeting of the CERC in July 2016. Dr. Wan Gang, Minister of Science and Technology of China, and Dr. Ernest Moniz, Secretary of Energy of the United States, plan to co-chair the meeting. The two sides decided to continue strengthening cooperation between CERC industries, universities, and research institutes; carry forward cooperation in four priority areas including advanced coal technology, clean vehicles, building energy efficiency, and the energy-water nexus track; and put in place a new CERC medium- and heavy-duty truck efficiency track.
57. Renewable Energy Partnership: The United States and China decided to continue cooperation under their Renewable Energy Partnership (USCREP). USCREP provides a platform for research and commercial partnerships to promote policies and practices that enhance photovoltaic (PV) solar generation; concentrating solar power (CSP); and wind energy deployment, production, and integration. USCREP decided to continue round- robin testing of Chinese CSP components to compare performance results and testing methodologies. The two sides are working together to produce a U.S.- China grid code comparison and recommendation study to help improve the design of new technical interconnection requirements to alleviate curtailment and other integration issues. Ongoing work also includes developing unified PV module quality assurance standards under the PV Quality Assurance Taskforce, which has the participation of 156 members from 59 organizations from the Chinese PV industry, including technology suppliers, research institutions, universities, testing and certification agencies. The Renewable Energy Industries Forum, organized under USCREP, brings together over 150 government, industry, and academic leaders to discuss policy and market outlooks and unlock commercial opportunities. China plans to host the 5th Renewable Energy Industries Forum in 2017.
58. Strategic Petroleum Reserves: Under the 2014 Memorandum of Understanding on Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) cooperation, the United States and China engaged in multiple bilateral meetings, technical workshops and reciprocal site visits. The U.S. Department of Energy and the National Energy Administration of China are continuing these efforts. To facilitate candid dialogue on SPR policy issues including analysis on global oil market and corresponding emergency preparedness emergency response and fill policy, the United States and China are planning high- level representation at these events. China commits to making available more complete, reliable, and detailed publications of energy statistics on a more frequent basis, including for SPR at bilateral forums.
59. Energy Security: The United States and China acknowledged their common interests and responsibilities to ensure global energy security, and recognized the importance of utilizing domestic and international energy policies to meet demand in a sustainable manner and achieve sustainable economic growth. The two sides decided to strengthen cooperation and increase dialogue through targeted discussions focused on topics such as the transparent and smooth functioning of international and domestic energy markets, diversified energy supplies, emergency response, renewable energy, and the sustainable and efficient use of energy.
60. Civil Nuclear Energy R&D: The United States and China decided to continue cooperation on the joint development of advanced reactors and fuel cycle technologies under the Bilateral Civil Nuclear Energy Cooperative Action Plan between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Energy Administration of China. The 8th Joint Action Plan Working Groups Meeting was held in October 2015 in China. The next Action Plan meeting is expected to take place in September 2016 at the Idaho National Laboratory. The United States and China also decided to continue Nuclear Energy Sciences and Technologies (NEST) cooperation under the Memorandum of Understanding agreement between DOE and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) to foster collaboration in advanced nuclear energy concepts among U.S. and Chinese scientists, laboratories, research institutes, and universities. The third DOE-CAS NEST Executive Committee Meeting was held in May 2016 in Shanghai.
61. Nuclear Safety: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) and the National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA) of China continued their cooperation on nuclear safety through sustained regulatory and technical exchanges on the AP1000 nuclear reactor development. USNRC and NNSA inspectors worked together at the AP1000 sites in China and on AP1000 vendor inspections in the United States, and the two agencies completed staffing exchanges. The two sides plan to continue sharing expertise on AP1000 construction and pre-commissioning and continue their valuable personnel exchanges. The USNRC and NNSA are broadening their cooperation by sharing experience on issues relating to public communication; emergency preparedness and response; and radioactive waste and sources safety.
62. Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Technologies (PUNT): The United States and China decided to continue several cooperative activities through the Nuclear Energy Technology Working Group framework. These include: cooperation in operational safety at nuclear power plants; Probabilistic Safety Assessment workshops and pilot projects at operating plants; exchange of information on reactor lifetime extension and materials aging and degradation research and development; exploring opportunities for information exchange on small modular reactors; an d sharing information on nuclear liability. The two sides also decided to pursue an exchange of information on strategies and best practices related to public and stakeholder outreach. The 11th PUNT Joint Coordinating Committee Meeting was held in May 10-11, 2016 at the Savannah River National Laboratory.
63. Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation: The United States and China noted with satisfaction that the successor U.S.-China Agreement Concerning Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy (123 Agreement) entered into force in October 2015, and that the two sides decided to further strengthen cooperation in the field of civil nuclear power on this basis. Last year, the United States and China started discussions aimed at finalizing both the Administrative Arrangement to, and the required Joint Training Plan under the 123 Agreement, and seek to finalize those two documents as soon as possible. The two sides concur on the importance of establishing a global nuclear liability regime, with an initial emphasis on treaty relations among China, the United States, the countries in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and the current parties to the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC), and look forward to continuing their exchange on the CSC at a workshop later this year in Beijing.
64. Shale Gas Training Program, Phase II: The United States and China decided to continue their cooperation on shale gas development by holding two additional workshops in 2016. Thus far, the second phase of the U.S.-China Shale Gas Training Program, funded by the U.S. Trade & Development Agency (USTDA), and two workshops on environmental policy and technology and gas infrastructure efficiencies have been held in China. The workshops convene U.S. and Chinese government and industry experts to discuss the commercial, technological, regulatory, and environmental aspects of shale gas development. This public-private program is delivered in partnership by the USTDA, China's National Energy Administration, and the U.S. Departments of Energy, State, and Commerce.
65. Energy Regulation Cooperation: Pursuant to the Memorandum of Understanding on Enhancing Energy Regulation Collaboration between the China National Energy Administration and the U.S. Federal Energy Regulation Commission , the two sides decided to strengthen exchange and cooperation in power market development and energy regulation by focusing on the following topics: (1) power sector tariffs; (2) bilateral contracts and energy imbalance markets; (3) integration of renewables; and (4) smart grid policy and regulation.
66. Energy Cooperation Program: In support of the U.S.-China Energy Cooperation Program (ECP) and China's efforts to mitigate the environmental effects of coal-fired power, the U.S. Trade & Development Agency (USTDA) intends to partner with Chinese entities and ECP member companies to conduct two pilot projects demonstrating technologies related to distributed energy combined heat & power. Over the last year, USTDA also partnered with ECP and China's National Development and Reform Commission to support workshops on energy performance contracting and introducing new energy sources into the Triple J Region (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei).
IV. Cooperation on Environmental Protection
67. Combatting Illegal Logging and Associated Trade: The United States and China reaffirmed their support for regional and global efforts to combat illegal logging and associated trade, and also decided to continue cooperation through bilateral mechanisms such as the S&ED, JCCT, and U.S.-China Bilateral Forum on Illegal Logging and Associated Trade. The two sides resolved to continue their bilateral exchange on such topics as the implementation of Lacey Act Amendments, timber legality verification, private sector dialogue, and customs data exchange, in order to enhance mutual understanding and promote practical cooperation. Both sides also resolved to continue the whole-of-government approach by coordinating with and involving all relevant ministries and agencies, and by working with civil society and private partners. The two sides are working together to hold the seventh U.S.-China Bilateral Forum on Illegal Logging and Associated Trade in the United States in the second half of 2016 to conduct policy dialogue, information sharing and project cooperation. The two sides reaffirmed the intent to strengthen bilateral talks as well as discussion under multilateral and regional fora, such as the APEC Experts Group on Illegal Logging and Associated Trade.
68. Forest Health Management: The United States and China decided to extend the Memorandum of Understanding between the State Forestry Administration of the People's Republic of China and the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Forestry Cooperation until April 2020. The two sides further decided to continue collaboration and carry out practical cooperation on forest health between four demonstration sites in China and several sites in the United States. The two sides are working together to hold a China- U.S. Seminar on Forest Health Management in China in the first half of 2017 to enhance personnel exchange and technical cooperation. The two sides plan to explore virtual pairing of Chinese and U.S. scientists and practitioners on biocontrol, invasive species monitoring, and pest monitoring. The two sides affirmed their support for the UN FAO Asia Pacific Forest Invasive Species Network (APFISN), and the intent to cooperate on activities to mitigate the negative impact of invasive insects and diseases. China and the United States further decided to continue other joint efforts in the region through relevant activities in APFNet, and other relevant organizations, to promote high-level commitment and cooperation to advance forest conservation, restoration and sustainable forest management, and to facilitate progress towards the APEC 2020 forest cover goal.
69. Air Quality: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China ( MEP) deepened their cooperation to improve air quality. The U.S. Trade & Development Agency ( USTDA) coordinated with the EPA to assist MEP's development of a regional air quality management plan for Jiangsu Province, including through a USTDA- hosted meeting exhibiting U.S-manufactured technologies for reducing air pollution. The two sides plan to hold the 10th Regional Air Quality Management Conference; enhance policy, regulatory, permitting and technical capacity on regional air pollution and multipollutant controls; deepen cooperation on pollution reduction from vehicles, ports, and vessels; advance emissions monitoring; improve laboratory and off-road vehicle testing capacity and data evaluation; and promote control technologies.
70. Water Quality: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China (MEP) held the ninth Policy Seminar of their Clean Water Action Plan and Water Environmental Policy Workshop; completed phase one of the groundwater sampling demonstration project; and continued sharing legal frameworks, technical expertise, and finance mechanisms for surface and groundwater protection and restoration. EPA and MEP held high-level exchanges on water economic policies, water environmental security and green investment. The two sides plan to continue advancing cooperation on water environment management; national-provincial-municipal water governance; policy research on economic instruments, public-private partnerships, pollution discharge permitting; pollution control strategies and innovative technologies; expanding the groundwater remediation pilot project; and technical exchange and training.
71. Management of Chemicals: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China continued collaboration on environmental management of chemicals and exchanged experience on the prevention and control of pollution from persistent organic pollutants and mercury. The two sides decided to continue exchanging experience in risk assessment and risk management of chemical substances; promote cooperation in the reduction, emission control and safe replacement of POPs, PFCs, and BFRs; continue exchanges and cooperation on the implementation of the Minamata Convention; and expand cooperation through international cooperation mechanisms on chemicals, including in the APEC Chemical Dialogue and Global PFC Group.
72. Hazardous Material Safe Storage and Transportation: The United States and China are working bilaterally in cooperation on transportation safety and disaster management. China's Ministry of Transport (MOT) and the U.S. Trade & Development Agency (USTDA), along with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) have worked together in sponsoring a transportation of hazardous materials seminar in April 2016 and a workshop in May 2016a s part of the U.S.-China Transportation Forum.
73. Management of Waste and Contaminated Sites: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China (MEP) strengthened cooperation on prevention and remediation of land contamination as China prepares to issue its national action plan on soil pollution prevention and control. The two sides shared experience in contaminated land liability tracking; risk-based assessments and remedy selection; monitoring methods; and stakeholder participation. In addition, the U.S. Trade & Development Agency and the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology hosted a workshop where product and service providers, industry experts, standards developers, MEP experts, and Chinese businesses and academia exchanged information on brownfields remediation. EPA and MEP also shared experience in hazardous waste identification, permitting programs and treatment technologies, and decided to explore collaboration on trans-boundary movement of e-waste and best practices on the recycling and reduction of various types of waste.
74. Enforcement of Environmental Laws: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) visited the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China (MEP) and other partners in China to discuss best practices in environmental compliance and enforcement with national, provincial, and municipal officials. The two sides decided to collaborate on next generation compliance tools and techniques; share experience on promoting compliance with environmental laws and implementing penalty provisions; and advance compliance monitoring and information. EPA and MEP are planning a MEP study tour or staff exchange to the United States. Workgroup meetings to discuss and plan compliance and enforcement activities are planned for 2016 in the United States and 2017 in China.
75. Environmental Laws and Institutions: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China (MEP) shared experience in environmental legislation and supported China's research and innovation of its environmental legislative system and revision of its environmental laws and regulations. EPA hosted MEP for roundtable discussions on environmental law and joined MEP in an NGO-hosted roundtable discussion on national-local relations and environmental problems across provincial boundaries. EPA and MEP are planning the 2016 Environmental Legislation Seminar.
76. Parks Management: The United States and China reaffirmed their mutual commitment to cooperation in parks management. The National Park Service (NPS) of the U.S. Department of the Interior and the National Development and Reform Commission of China signed a statement of cooperation regarding their efforts to establish a national parks system in China.
77. Nature Conservation: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and National Park Service (NPS) of the U.S. Department of the Interior and the P.R.C. State Forestry Administration (SFA) decided to continue working to implement Annex 12 of the China-U.S. Nature Conservation Protocol ( i.e. , the 2014-2016 work plan); carry out exchanges and cooperative projects in 2016; and further strengthen cooperation in the fields of nature reserve management, national park development, wetlands conservation and sustainable utilization, environmental education and public outreach, CITES implementation, and fisheries. On the basis of their cooperation in 2015, the two sides decided to continue encouraging the establishment of sister relationships between nature reserves, national parks and wildlife refuges, and promote links between universities, research institutes, and social organizations of the two countries.
78. Green Infrastructure Reverse Trade Missions: The U.S. Trade & Development Agency funded two reverse trade missions in partnership with the Ministry of Commerce of China that introduced Chinese delegates to U.S. goods and services related to green infrastructure, environmentally friendly design and engineering, green buildings, building efficiency, smart cities, green construction, and waste processing and recycling. The Green Infrastructure & Smart Cities Reverse Trade Mission brought a Chinese delegation to the U.S.-China Climate-Smart/Low-Carbon Cities Summit in Los Angeles, CA in September 2015. In May 2016, the Green Airport Infrastructure Reverse Trade Mission brought representatives of the Chinese construction and aviation industries to Chicago, IL, Seattle, WA, and Los Angeles, CA to learn about U.S. technologies for green airport construction, waste processing and recycling, and energy efficient transportation hubs. The two sides decided to organize one additional Reverse Trade Mission in 2016.
V. Maritime Cooperation
79. Global Oceans: The United States and China reaffirmed their commitments to further the protection and conservation of the world's ocean. The two sides plan to send senior officials to participate in the 2016 Our Ocean Conference and decided to work together to advance the conference's agenda by addressing the global challenges of sustaining fisheries, protecting vital ocean areas, and reducing ocean acidification and marine pollution. The United States and China reaffirmed their support for the proposed MPA in the Ross Sea of Antarctica, as revised in 2015. The two sides intend to continue to work together, at the next Meeting of the Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources in October 2016, in consultation with other parties, toward establishment of the MPA. The two sides intend to continue cooperating on the Blue Economy in multilateral and bilateral channels to build on the APEC common view: the Blue Economy is an approach to advance sustainable management and conservation of ocean and coastal resources and ecosystems and sustainable development, in order to foster economic growth.
80. Sustainable Fishing and Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing: The United States and China established and held the first meeting of their Bilateral Fisheries Dialogue in April 2016. Building on those discussions, the two sides reaffirmed their commitment to jointly combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing; strengthen cooperation under bilateral frameworks and in regional fisheries management organizations and relevant international organizations; and promote the development of effective measures for combating IUU fishing by regional fisheries management organizations. The two sides decided to enhance the exchange of management experience in marine fisheries resource conservation, marine fishing, aquaculture and recreational fisheries. China welcomed U.S. ratification of the Port State Measures Agreement, and plans to conduct a feasibility study on the approval and implementation of the Agreement. The two sides decided to exchange information on the respective progress, through the annual Bilateral Fisheries Dialogue. The United States and China have exchanged, and decided to continue exchanging, views on the work of the U.S. National Ocean Council Committee on IUU Fishing and Seafood Fraud. The United States and China also decided to work together and with other relevant governments to complete negotiation of an agreement to prevent unregulated commercial fishing in the high seas portion of the central Arctic Ocean. China and the United States decided to set up fisheries law enforcement points of contacts and develop a standing process at multiple levels to exchange trade information regarding seafood products in trade.
81. Marine Litter Prevention and Reduction: Building on cooperation launched at the last S&ED, the United States and China identified Xiamen and Weihai and San Francisco and New York as the first partner cities to share best practices on waste management to reduce and prevent the flow of trash into the ocean. The two sides decided to initiate the partnership with the visit of a group of officials from Xiamen, Weihai and the Chinese Government to San Francisco and New York. The two sides decided to work together to enhance capacity to minimize, recycle, and manage waste to reduce its overall environmental impacts, lessen land-based sources of marine litter, and help align support by multilateral lenders to improve funding opportunities for waste minimization and management governance capacity and projects in cities of relevant APEC member economies. The United States and China plan to work on an integrated waste management plan for the city of Xiamen and Weihai that could serve as a model and help reduce land-based sources of pollution in the marine environment.
82. Marine Protected Areas: The United Stated and China reaffirmed their interest in cooperation to improve the effectiveness of marine protected areas (MPA). The two sides decided to strengthen understanding and information sharing about Chinese and U.S. MPA efforts, and to exchange information and expertise on the specific issues of MPA scientific research, development, and management. The two sides decided to support their cooperation through future bilateral efforts, including the possible development of sister MPA partnerships between Hainan Sanya Coral Reef National Marine Protected Area and Panjin Yuanyanggou National Special Marine Protected Area in China and the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa and the San Francisco Bay or San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge Complexes in the United States, pending further bilateral discussions.
83. Ocean Observation: The United States and China expressed interest in expanding ocean observing cooperation in the Indian, Southern and Pacific oceans to assist in understanding and monitoring changes in the climate and earth systems, which could include an acidifying ocean, rising sea levels, ecosystem sensitivity, and weather and climate extremes. The two sides plan to focus initially on exploring cooperative opportunities under the Draft Proposal for the Indian-Southern Oceans Climatic Observation, Reanalysis and Prediction (ISOCORE) as well as the Tropical Pacific Observing System. The two sides also decided to enhance cooperation on ocean acidification, particularly in the Arctic, consistent with The Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network and the Pacific Arctic Group. The two sides decided to continue discussing next steps for cooperation under the auspices of the U.S.-China Protocol on Cooperation in the Field of Marine and Fisheries Science and Technology.
84. Maritime Law Enforcement: The United States and China reaffirmed their commitment to promoting maritime professionalism and conduct at sea. In accordance with the outcome of President Xi Jinping's State Visit to the United States in 2015, the two sides decided to continue developing the rules of behavior on surface to surface encounters between the two coast guards. Both sides in principle support the development of a document of cooperation between the China Coast Guard and the United States Coast Guard.
85. Maritime Safety and Security: The United States and China reaffirmed their support for carrying forward bilateral exchanges between the relevant U.S. and Chinese maritime safety agencies. The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and China Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) intend to continue conducting mutual senior-level and vessel visits as well as cooperation and exchanges in maritime radio navigation and satellite navigation. The USCG and MSA continue to explore joint enforcement of international dangerous cargo laws; develop a personnel and professional exchange program in the fields of seafarer management, navigation safety, aids to navigation, hazardous and noxious substances spill response, and search and rescue; and formulate a medium-term or long-term bilateral action plan on maritime safety.
