The first stage of a cooperative program under which Russia will supply electricity to China as part of the "Year of China" in Russia has begun. Russia has agreed to supply 60 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity to China annually. At present, it supplies 2 to 3 trillion kilowatt-hours.

According to a report from the Chinese Renewable Energy Society, renewable energy could contribute to 30 percent of China's total energy supply by 2050. Chinese wind power stations may have the ability to generate 300 to 500 million kilowatts of electricity in 2050 and another 200 million to 300 million kilowatts will be generated by solar energy. Small hydropower stations could generate 100 million kilowatts of electric power by 2030, which would account for 10 percent of overall energy supply at that time.

Energy officials from China and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) this weekend to cooperate on increasing energy efficiency in China's industrial sector, which accounts for 70 percent of the country's energy demand. Karen Harbert, assistant secretary for policy and international affairs of the US Department of Energy (DOE), and Chen Deming, vice minister of the National Development and Reform Commission, signed the agreement at a meeting in San Francisco. The two sides agreed to jointly conduct audits to increase national, regional and local energy efficiency in energy-intensive factories, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.