China and California Plan to Cooperate in Battling Climate Change, September 13, 2013

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING TO ENHANCE COOPERATION ON LOW CARBON DEVELOPMENT BETWEEN THE NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND REFORM COMMISSION OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA AND THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

This MOU to Enhance Cooperation on Low Carbon Development is entered into by the National Development and Reform Commission of the People’s Republic of China (NDRC) and the State of California of the United States of America (California) and hereafter jointly referred to as the “Parties,” in order to strengthen and coordinate efforts to combat global climate change, promote clean and efficient energy and support low carbon development, while protecting public health, the environment and natural resources.

Article 1 Areas of Cooperation
The Parties agree to cooperate in the following areas, on the basis of the principle of equality and mutual benefit:

• Activities to mitigate carbon emissions while enabling sustained economic growth;
• Activities to strengthen performance standards within various economic sectors to control carbon, methane and other high global warming potential gases while enabling economic growth;
• Activities to implement carbon emissions trading systems and other market-based instruments;
• Activities that strengthen support for low carbon and ETS pilot programs;
• Activities that reduce energy consumption among industrial, commercial, and residential buildings;
• Activities that increase the usage of electrified transportation;
• Activities that support new and expanded markets for clean and efficient energy technologies, including within energy-intensive industries and transportation;
• Activities that support joint-ventures, partner-agreements, and capital investments in the design, construction and operation of clean and efficient energy and infrastructure projects; and
• Other mutually agreed activities.

Article 2 Forms of Cooperation
Forms of cooperation may include the following and any other forms agreed to by both Parties:
• Sharing information and experiences regarding policies and programs to strengthen low carbon development across economic sectors;
• Sharing policy design of carbon emissions trading programs;
• Inviting the other Party to advise on program and policy design and rule-making processes that it developed;
• Exchanges and temporary assignments of personnel from one of the Parties to the other;
• Cooperative research on clean and efficient energy technologies, including developing shared research, development and deployment projects;
• Joint organization of symposia, seminars, workshops, exhibitions and training; and
• Any other mutually agreeable forms of cooperation that contribute to the purpose of this MOU.

Article 3 Implementation
The Parties shall, on a regular basis, inform and consult with one another on matters of common interest that represent opportunities for mutual benefit consistent with this MOU.

In order to explore specifically how to collaborate through the framework of the MOU, the Parties agree to form an MOU Implementation Taskforce, co-chaired by the Director General of the Department of Climate Change for the NDRC side and the Deputy Cabinet Secretary and Senior Advisor to the Governor for the California side. Additionally, NDRC will be represented by the Director General of the Department of Environmental Protection and Resource Conservation, Director General of the Department of International Cooperation, Director General of the Energy Research Institute and Director General of National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation, and California will be represented on this taskforce by the Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency, Chairman of the California Air Resource Board, and Chair of the California Energy Commission.

The Taskforce will coordinate the implementation of this MOU, as appropriate, with other agreements between entities in California and the People’s Republic of China, and will meet in person once annually and by video or telephone conference as often as necessary.

Article 4 Duration, Termination, Modification This MOU will remain in effect for two years from the date of its signature by the parties and may be amended and/or extend its effective term as agreed by the Parties in writing.

Either Party may withdraw from this MOU after 45 days written notice to the other Party.

The present MOU is signed in San Francisco, California on September 13, 2013 in the Chinese and English languages, both texts being equally authentic.

National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) Vice Chairman Xie Zhenhua
FOR THE NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND REFORM COMMISSION OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

California Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.
FOR THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

The 2023 MOU between California and the National Development and Reform Commission is available here.