SACRAMENTO, Calif. and BEIJING, CHINA /California Newswire/ — Speaking at one of China’s preeminent universities, Calif. Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. called for unified action to combat climate change on Thursday. “We’re in one world. We’ve got one big problem and we all have to work on it. And what’s beautiful and exciting about climate change is no one group can solve the problem—not the United States, not California, not Japan, not China—we all have to do it,” said Governor Brown in remarks at Tsinghua University. “This is a great unifier. This is an imperative where human beings could collaborate.”
Governor Brown was joined by Deputy Secretary-General of China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Zhao Jiarong, and climate experts from China and California.
The NDRC oversees efforts to address climate change and much of the government’s economic strategy.
Thursday’s remarks followed events throughout Beijing on Wednesday, including meetings with China’s Minister of Commerce, Minister of Environmental Protection, Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, a forum with the American Chamber of Commerce – Beijing and a reception at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing with the U.S. Ambassador to China.
Later Thursday, Governor Brown will meet with China’s Premier, Li Keqiang.
This week and next, the Governor will meet with Chinese government and business leaders, highlight bilateral trade and investment opportunities between the two regions and open a new trade and investment office. In addition to Beijing, the trade and investment mission will include events in Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen through Tuesday, April 16th.
Joining the Governor on the trade and investment mission is a delegation organized by the Bay Area Council that includes approximately 90 business, economic development, investment and policy leaders from throughout California. Senior administration officials are also accompanying the delegation.
The Governor’s trade and investment mission follows more than a year of significant diplomatic and business exchanges between the State of California and China. In February 2012, Governor Brown welcomed His Excellency Xi Jinping, then-Vice President, and now President of China, to California. During the visit, Governor Brown announced his intention to visit China, open a trade and investment office and form a China-California Joint Task Force to drive more collaboration, investment and trade between California and China. Later in 2012, the Brown administration convened the inaugural Joint Economic Committee between California and China’s Jiangsu Province, hosted a Chinese delegation led by the Vice Minister of China’s Ministry of Commerce and met with a Chinese delegation led by Deputy Governor Xia Geng of China’s Shandong Province.
