On December 20, Assistant Minister Li Chenggang attended the 14th China-Japan Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Comprehensive Forum in Beijing and delivered a keynote speech.

Li Chenggang said that faced with the severe challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, China and Japan have always stood by each other and overcome the difficulties together, and China-Japan trade and economic cooperation has shown strong resilience in blunting the impact of the epidemic. Practical cooperation between China and Japan has gone from strength to strength and delivered fruitful results in such areas as medical care, epidemic prevention, health care, e-commerce, energy saving and environmental protection, third-party market, and local cooperation.

Li Chenggang pointed out that as two important countries in Asia and the world, China and Japan share broad common interests and prospect for cooperation. China is willing to work with Japan to address the impact of the epidemic and global issues, and to map out a blueprint for cooperation in the field of energy conservation and environmental protection in the post-pandemic era. To this end, it is recommended that both sides strengthen policy communication and create synergy in energy conservation and environmental protection policies; foster a favorable environment and deepen the integration and development of the supply and industrial chains; strengthen local partnership to write a new chapter in energy conservation and environmental protection cooperation; and address climate change and promote energy conservation and environmental protection cooperation in the third-party market to a deeper level.

Founded in 2006, the China-Japan Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Comprehensive Forum is jointly organized by the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan and the Japan-China Economic Association. This year's forum is held both online and offline.