WASHINGTON - China and US business entities took initiatives to jointly tackle environmental challenges by signing three memorandums of understanding (MOU).

As part of the business delegation led by visiting Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping, Yonker Environment Protection Institute (Yonker EPI) signed three MOUs with US entities at Monday's ceremony in Washington. Yonker EPI was established in 2010 with the mission to develop and commercialize advanced environmental technologies in China.

Zhang Yingxin, deputy director of the Investment Promotion Bureau under the Ministry of Commerce, said at the signing ceremony, "Along with the rapid economic development of China, environmental issues and shortages of natural resources such as water are becoming more and more prominent. It is of great significance to start this type of cooperation between China and US entities."

The three US entities that signed MOUs with the Yonker EPI are US leading providers of services that resolve environmental issues not simply from an end treatment approach but from a sustainable approach.

The first MOU was signed between Yonker EPI and the Milwaukee Water Council. Milwaukee is recognized as a world hub for water research, education and economic development. This cooperation will focus on applicable water research and sharing of water technologies. The MOU between the Yonker EPI and Hazen and Sawyer is for cooperation in utility management, water resources management, and water technologies.

The third US entity Ze-Gen is a renewable energy company that combines proprietary gasification technology with ordinary waste streams in order to generate clean, sustainable, low-cost synthetic gas for multiple industrial applications. The company will apply the Ze-Gen technology in China for solid waste gasification.

Ping Zhuang, executive vice-president and chief scientist at Yonker EPI, said at the ceremony, "The introduction and cooperation of these technologies and advanced management experience can have a great market potential in the vast Chinese market and the application of these can also help China become greener and more sustainable, and enable Yonker EPI to rise as an international player of advanced technologies and a leader in the Chinese environmental market."

Hunan Yonker Environmental Group was established in 1998. It is an environmental company that provides complete and comprehensive services. The company was listed in China's stock exchange last year.

China Daily