On September 22, China's National Energy Administration, UK's Department of Energy and Climate Change and UK Trade & Investment jointly held the China-UK Seminar on Offshore Wind Power in London. A delegation of over 30 major wind power companies, government officials and representatives of research institutes in China, which was headed by Mr. Liu Qi, Vice Minister of China's National Energy Administration, and the officials from UK's Treasury, Foreign Office, Department of Energy and Climate Change, Trade & Investment and other government departments as well as representatives of the relevant British institutions and companies attended the Seminar. This is a successful China-UK energy dialogue held in 2010 and another practical cooperation between the two countries in the field of energy after the signing of the memorandum of understanding on strengthening energy cooperation during the fourth China-UK economic and financial dialogue.

Vice Minister Liu Qi briefed the representatives on the objectives and overall deployment of the offshore wind power development during the Twelfth Five Year Plan Period in China and pointed out the prospect of cooperation in this field between the two countries. Lord Marland, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in UK's Department of Energy and Climate Change, highly commended the prospect of China-UK cooperation in this field.

The Chinese and British representatives carried out in-depth discussion in four areas: First, the exchanges on the overview and policies concerning offshore wind power; second, investment policies and approval procedures of offshore wind power projects; third, project investment and market strategies; and fourth, technology trends, construction and operation maintenance of offshore wind power. The representatives from China Wind Energy Association, China Hydropower Engineering Consulting Group, China Energy Research Institute, China Datang Corporation, Sinovel Technology Group, the State Grid Corporation of China, Shanghai Investigation, Design & Research Institute and other relevant institutions introduced the development of offshore wind power in China from different perspectives and discussed with the British counterparts on many topics. The representatives from British National Grid, British Crown Property Bureau, Renewable Energy Association, KPMG, British SGURR, British GARRAD HASSAN and Sweden VATTENFALL also delivered speeches. On September 23, the participants also conducted discussion and exchanges on the opportunities and challenges on the investment in offshore wind power in China and in the UK.

Offshore wind power is at the forefront of the world's wind power technology development and industrial competition. The basic idea and key targets in China for the development of offshore wind power during the Twelfth Five Year Plan Period are: by 2015, China will have an installed capacity of 5 million kilowatts of offshore wind power and form a set of technologies and a complete industrial chain of offshore wind power; and by 2020, the installed capacity of offshore wind power will reach 30 million kilowatts. At present, China has completed the construction of the Shanghai Donghai Bridge 100,000 kilowatts demonstration project of offshore wind power, which plays an important role in the exploration and guidance of the development in this regard in China.

The UK has always been leading the world's offshore and onshore wind power industry because of its unique geographical location. Currently the country boasts the largest installed capacity of offshore wind power in the world, which exceeds 1 GW. It has also planned to develop 30 GW of offshore wind power within ten years. All these have highlighted the opportunities of the UK as the world's largest wind power market. As China and the UK are highly complementary in this field, their exchanges and cooperation are particularly necessary.

Also on September 23, Ambassador Liu Xiaoming met at the Chinese Embassy with Vice Minister Liu Qi and his delegation.