China-US S&ED Outcomes of the Strategic Track

VII. Cooperation on Health

74. Clean Cookstoves: As partners of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves and pursuant to the corresponding National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC)-United Nations Foundation (UNF) MOU signed in April 2013, the two sides decided to strengthen their cooperation in this area. To support the Alliance’s mission and reach its ambitious goals for large-scale global adoption of clean stoves and fuels for cooking and heating, China will further enhance its domestic efforts to adopt clean cookstoves and fuels under its current Five-Year Plan and support enterprises and institutes to develop safe, efficient, and clean products and technologies. The United States will collaborate with China via the Alliance to provide direct technical support to these activities. The two sides underline the importance of coordinating cookstoves efforts across relevant agencies on a broad set of topics and decided to discuss opportunities to coordinate research on clean cookstoves.

75. Cooperation on Responding to Infectious Diseases: The United States welcomes China’s continued transparency and cooperation regarding the H7N9 influenza situation. The United States and China have decided to continue to strengthen extensive and transparent scientific cooperation on emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, including influenza, multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, malaria, etc., with the purpose of protecting global health security. The two sides decided to sign a Protocol between the Department of Health and Human Services of the United States and the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China for Cooperation in the Science and Technology of Medicine and Public Health.

76. Public Healthcare Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Management: In response to recent pandemics and natural disasters, committed to continue their cooperation on public health emergency preparedness and response and healthcare management, including the two Chinese study tours to the United States in July and October 2013 funded by the USTDA.

77. Health Outcomes and Hospital Quality: In support of the Healthcare Cooperation Program, announced a USTDA grant to improve health outcomes and hospital quality management through a suite of information technology solutions for Chinese hospitals.

78. Smoke-Free Worksites: Successfully kicked off the US-China Smoke-Free Worksites initiative, a public-private partnership that promotes smoke-free policies in the workplace, following the 2011 UN Summit on Non-Communicable Diseases. Both countries are working to continue to promote, expand, and advance the interests of this effort within the private and public sectors. The two countries are to identify an appropriate, secretariat to recruit public and private resources; carry out the decisions of the CUSW Steering Committee; and facilitate the functions of this bilateral public-private partnership.

VIII. Bilateral Dialogues on Energy, Environment, Science, and Technology

79. Ten-Year Framework on Energy and Environment Cooperation: Continue to promote progress of the seven action plans under the US-China Ten-Year Framework (TYF) on Energy and Environment Cooperation, i.e., clean water, clean air, clean and efficient transportation, clean and efficient electricity, nature reserves/protected areas, wetlands cooperation, and energy efficiency, and to further implement the EcoPartnerships program. Both sides decided to carry out a mid-term review on the TYF, add new priority cooperation areas, and increase the participation of local governments, enterprises, research institutes, and civil society in the TYF. The 9th Joint Working Group meeting is to be held later this year. Both sides continue their cooperation in drinking water safety, ground water protection, and lake water environmental management and plan to co-host a Drinking Water Safety Round Table; will carry out various forms of cooperation in the prevention and control of air pollution; co-hosted the 8th US-China Regional Air Quality Management Conference and will continue this important conference; will continue to implement the second phase of the livable transportation project; continue to implement the exchange programs of conservation managers, students, and young professionals on nature reserves and refuges between the United States and China and facilitate the joint publication of Wetlands Journal Special Feature on Asia Wetlands in 2014; and continue to conduct exchanges and cooperation on energy efficiency and electricity.

80. Energy Industry Fora: Decided to hold the 13th Oil and Gas Industry Forum (OGIF) in Xian, China in fall 2013 and the third Renewable Energy Industry Forum in China in July 2013. Decided to hold the Advanced Biofuels Forum in China in October 2013.

81. Energy Efficiency Forum: Decided to hold the 4th US-China Energy Efficiency Forum in the United States in September 2013 to assess progress to date and emerging high-potential opportunities for government and industry collaboration in the areas of industrial energy efficiency, consumer goods efficiency, building energy codes and labeling, and sustainable cities. Enterprises from both countries will also be invited to participate and conduct site visits before or after the Forum, exploring opportunities for technological and industrial cooperation.

82. Second Joint Coordinating Committee Meeting: Noted the results of the second Joint Coordinating Committee Meeting in energy sciences between DOE and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in May 2013. DOE and CAS discussed ongoing and potential collaborative projects. The two sides decided to continue the ongoing collaborations on high energy physics, nuclear physics, fusion energy, and basic energy sciences.

83. US-China Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Technologies: Held the 8th annual US-China Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Technologies (PUNT) Joint Committee Meeting in Beijing in April 2013. The two sides recognized the progress achieved in each PUNT working group, discussed new issue areas for potential cooperation, and affirmed the need for strengthened technical collaborations as nuclear power continues to play an important role in meeting global energy needs. The next PUNT meeting is to be held in the United States in spring 2014.

84. US-China Fossil Energy Protocol Coordinators Meeting: Proposed to hold the 2013 U.S.-China Fossil Energy Protocol Coordinators Meeting in China later this year, to be co-chaired by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China and Department of Energy of the United States, to review activities of the past year and to agree on new activities.

85. APEC Energy Ministers Meeting: Announced U.S. support for China hosting the 2014 APEC Energy Ministers Meeting and Energy Working Group meeting. The Unites States looks forward to working with China to develop and cosponsor selected relevant cooperative initiatives and projects to be put forward by China during its APEC year.

86. Bilateral Forum on Illegal Logging: Decided to hold the 5th meeting of the US-China Bilateral Forum on Combating Illegal Logging and Associated Trade in July 2013 and further the cooperation under the Forum, including through the research program on wood legality verification options and strategies for China-US trade in forest products and encouraging participation of the private sector and civil society in the Forum. The two sides also decided to further cooperate to combat illegal logging and associated trade with third countries and through regional processes, as appropriate.

87. Joint Working Group on Environmental Research: Announced joint cooperation in the following areas: infrastructure and sustainable development; surface water quality; air quality; and chemical screening under the MOU between the Environmental Protection Agency and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST).

88. Joint Committee on Environmental Cooperation: Announced that the 4th Meeting of the Joint Committee on Environmental Cooperation is to be held in China in late 2013 by the EPA and the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

89. Marine Science Forum 2013: Decided to convene the 19th Joint Working Group Meeting on the Marine and Fishery Science and Technology Cooperation and the 3rd US-China Marine Science Forum in early 2014.

90. Joint Committee Meeting on Science and Technology Cooperation: Welcomed continued efforts to enhance science and technology cooperation through the Joint Committee on Science and Technology Cooperation. Bilateral cooperation facilitated by the May 2012 Joint Committee Meeting (JCM) included joint research in areas of agriculture, clean energy, nuclear safety, environmental research, measurement science, and biodiversity. Under the auspices of the JCM, OSTP and MOST chaired a meeting of the Innovation Dialogue in July 2013 and reported the results to the S&ED. The dialogue provides a framework to discuss innovation policies of the U.S. and China and includes participation from relevant ministries and agencies on both sides, nongovernmental innovation policy experts, and private-sector representatives. Also under the JCM, MOST and the US Department of State are to co-chair the 2013 working-level Executive Secretaries Meeting on Science and Technology Cooperation (ESM) in the United States in October 2013.

91. Agriculture Joint Working Group: Decided to hold the 11th USDA-MOST Joint Working Group Meeting on Agricultural Science and Technology Cooperation in the U.S. in August, 2013. The meeting is to be co-chaired by Dr. Woteki, Under Secretary and Chief Scientist of the Department of Agriculture of the United States (USDA) and Vice Minister Zhang Laiwu of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (MOST). The two sides have decided to initiate collaborative projects in such priority areas as agricultural biotechnology, water saving technology, and gene bank technology and practices under the U.S.-China Agricultural Research Flagship Program.