Norwegian PM on green transition cooperation with China

Norway is seeking green transition partnership with China, said Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store while paying an official visit to the Asian country from Monday to Wednesday.

After a stay in Beijing where Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Qiang, and top legislator Zhao Leji met with him respectively, Store took a high-speed train to Shanghai on Tuesday.

In an interview with China Global Television Network on the train, Store said that he has reached consensus with Chinese leaders on green development, and the two sides also updated the trade relations between Norway and China, now one of the largest economies in the world.

"We have concluded an agreement on climate change mitigation, technological cooperation on the green transition. The Chinese side has been giving a 15-day visa waiver to Norway, which is helpful for our travelers, business people. So we have been updating and taking stock of our bilateral trade relations," said Store.

As a non-EU member state, Norway is currently one of the countries with the highest proportion of new energy vehicle sales in Europe. Store highlighted that NEV is another cooperation focus between the two countries.

"We will aim for carbon neutrality by 2050. We will cut our emissions by 55 percent by 2030 together with the European Union. Now since China is leading on many of these technologies, I believe you know we need to cooperate on them. I know that China is making major steps on electric vehicles. New sales of cars in Norway have 90 percent of electric vehicles," said Store.

China has been leading the way in developing wind energy, both onshore and offshore. The Norwegian PM disclosed that cooperation with China in next phase includes transition from oil and gas to renewable energy, and the two countries will step up alignment of each other's carbon emission reduction plans.

"As we electrify and move away from coal, oil and gas, we need new sources of electricity, because we need more electricity for a growing economy and for a growing world population. And that's why I think Norway and China can work together on some of these renewables," said Store.

During Store's visit, the two countries issued a joint statement on the establishment of Dialog on the Green Transition, and witnessed the signing of bilateral cooperation documents on green and low-carbon development.

Norwegian PM on green transition cooperation with China

Norwegian PM on green transition cooperation with China

Norwegian PM on green transition cooperation with China

China and other member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), pledged to enhance sustainable development cooperation at a Thursday conference in Tianjin, ahead of this year's SCO summit.

As the rotating chair for this year, China is to host the SCO summit in Tianjin this autumn. The China-SCO Conference on Industrial Cooperation for Sustainable Development is one of the activities organized during a promotion event from Wednesday to Friday. It aims to promote cooperation in fields like infrastructure, energy, mining and petrifaction.

Nearly 400 guests, including government officials and enterprises from SCO member states attended the opening session.

"In 2024, China's trade volume with SCO member states, observer states and dialogue partners reached a record high of 890 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for about 14.4 percent of China's total foreign trade volume, fully demonstrating the tremendous vitality and broad prospects of trade development within the region," said Ling Ji, vice minister of commerce and deputy China international trade representative, at the conference.

As China has extensive experience in promoting sustainable development, attendees from SCO member states expressed hope to strengthen cooperation with China across various sectors, said SCO Deputy Secretary General Sohail Khan.

"China plays a very, very important, significant role in sustainable development, as I said, so we are expecting that in the sustainable development context, all member states have lot to gain and learn from China on its achievements in various areas, like agricultural industries, energy, high tech, information technology, and robot AI," he said.

By the end of 2024, China's investment stocks in SCO member states, observer states and dialogue partners have exceeded 140 billion U.S. dollars, with the total value of contracts signed by Chinese enterprises in these countries exceeding one trillion U.S. dollars and the completed turnover surpassing 680 billion U.S. dollars.

In 2024, about 19,000 China-Europe freight train ran through the SCO region, marking a year-on-year increase of 10.7 percent and significantly promoting regional connectivity and economic development.

China, SCO member states pledge deeper sustainable development cooperation