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Tuesday, 12 April 2011

One of China’s most senior and influential officials has visited The University of Western Australia’s Centre for Energy as part of an Australian visit to promote bilateral relations.

His Excellency Mr Jia Qinglin, Chairman of the National Political Consultation Council of China visited the UWA Centre for Energy on 6 April 2011.

His Excellency (pictured, right) is a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China’s Central Committee and has a passion for sustainable energy technologies and thus the special visit to the Centre for Energy. The visit was received by Chancellor Dr Michael Chaney, Vice Chancellor Professor Alan Robson and was hosted by the Director of the Centre, Winthrop Professor Dongke Zhang FTSE (pictured, centre).

Professor Robson said UWA had many vital collaborative projects with important universities and tertiary institutions in China.

“These range from addressing the challenges of our two nations’ ageing populations to research in energy,” he said.  “Our University regards international agreements and collaborations as a fundamental opportunity to enhance our educational programs and research capacity, as well as strengthening important international partnerships.”

The Centre for Energy was the only university research facility that His Excellency has chosen to visit during his two day stay in WA, in recognition of the high profile and importance of the work at the Centre and its strong collaboration with Chinese institutions and business.

Winthrop Professor Zhang FTSE explained His Excellency Chairman Jia the Centre’s work on clean coal technology, natural gas utilisation, bioenergy and catalysis and his close ties with Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tsinghua University and ENN Group and presented a set of suggestions on China’s sustainable energy development strategies and policies.

These suggestions are the CN2N Policy (Coal &Natural Gas to Nuclear); the RECT Policy (Resources & Energy Collaboration and Trade); and the DEAR Policy (Distributed Energy for Agriculture and Remote Regions).

Winthrop Professor Zhang FTSE said, “The visit by Chairman Jia was a boost of our Centre’s profile and has given us a big tick for our collaborative work with China.”

“It is a great honour for the Centre and the School to receive such a statesman-level delegation from China, first time in our history” said Winthrop Professor Yinong Liu, Head of School of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering.

Media references

Janine MacDonald (UWA Public Affairs), (+61 8)6488 5563 / (+61 4) 32 637 716

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Centre for Energy — Faculty of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences