VZCZCXRO5681
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHGH #0387/01 2580930
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 150930Z SEP 09
FM AMCONSUL SHANGHAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8273
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 3069
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 0664
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 2371
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 2206
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 2000
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RUEFHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RULSDMK/DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON DC
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 8924
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 2197

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SHANGHAI 000387 
 
CODEL 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE ALSO FOR EAP/CM, EEB/TRA 
USDOC FOR ITA DAS KASOFF, MAC/OCEA - SZYMANSKI 
TRANSPORTATION FOR DAS JOEL SZABAT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ENRG ETRD CH OREP PGOV SENV
SUBJECT: SENATOR CANTWELL MEETS WITH SHANGHAI VICE-MAYOR ON 
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND PORTS 
 
REF: SHANGHAI  148 
 
(U) This message is sensitive but unclassified.  Not for 
distribution outside USG channels. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  In a September 7 meeting with Washington 
State Senator Maria Cantwell, Shanghai Executive Vice Mayor Yang 
Xiong touted Shanghai's expanding investments in new energy 
technology, highlighting efforts to use the World Expo 2010 as a 
platform for promoting clean energy.  Senator Cantwell detailed 
Washington State's clean energy initiatives and suggested that 
Shanghai and Washington State combine their efforts to develop 
smart grid technology and achieve broader environmental 
objectives.  End Summary. 
 
============================================= ========= 
SHANGHAI WORLD EXPO: PUTTING ITS CLEANEST FOOT FORWARD 
============================================= ========= 
 
¶2.  (SBU) In a September 7 meeting with Senator Maria Cantwell 
(D-WA), Executive Vice Mayor Yang Xiong compared the World Expo 
2010 to the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago, which took place in 
the midst of an economic depression and helped to restore 
confidence in the global economy.  Yang expressed hope that the 
Shanghai Expo will not only serve this confidence-rebuilding 
function but will also put Shanghai forward as a role model for 
other cities through its use of clean energy and its reduction 
of carbon dioxide emissions.  He detailed measures the Shanghai 
Municipal Government and Expo Bureau are taking to showcase 
China's clean energy achievements to the world during the World 
Expo.  Solar panels and photovoltaic power generators with 
400-500 megawatt capacity will power many of Expo installations. 
 All vehicles on the Expo site will run on a combination of fuel 
and batteries, with a zero emission target.  Water from the 
adjacent Huangpu River will be channeled through pipes as an air 
conditioning mechanism.  One fourth of the Expo area will be 
covered with grass or trees to absorb carbon dioxide.  (See 
reftel for more info on the environmental protection aspects of 
the Shanghai 2010 Expo.) 
 
========================== 
"BETTER CITY, BETTER LIFE" 
========================== 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Shanghai's efforts to develop clean energy are not 
limited to the World Expo, Yang observed.  Shanghai's lack of 
energy resources, coupled with the high cost of energy in 
China's eastern coastal cities, creates a strong incentive for 
developing clean energy technologies.  Shanghai is positioning 
itself to take a leading role in China's national efforts to 
develop new energy at a reasonable price and has plans for or 
already invested in solar and wind power, Integrated 
Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC), biomass, and smart-grid 
technology.  Yang also pointed to the decision of large 
international companies, such as General Electric, to establish 
research and development facilities in Shanghai as evidence of 
the city's growing role as a center for research and 
development, the work of some of which will include clean energy 
research.  Yang also stressed the Central Government views clean 
energy as a crucial component of China's continued rapid 
economic development, laying the foundation for Shanghai's clean 
energy initiatives. 
 
================== 
SHIPPING AND PORTS 
================== 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Yang noted that Shanghai and international companies 
operating in Shanghai benefit from the Central Government's 
favorable treatment of the Port of Shanghai and Yangshan Port, 
which Senator Cantwell had toured the day before.  Senator 
Cantwell told Yang she would like to see a more active presence 
for U.S. shipping and stevedoring companies in China, since 
Chinese companies, such as China Shipping, already have 
commercial opportunities in Washington State and throughout the 
United States.  Yang noted that Shanghai has many preferential 
policies to support development of international shipping in 
 
SHANGHAI 00000387  002 OF 002 
 
 
Shanghai and recommended that interested U.S. shipping companies 
include contacts with port and municipal officials in China as 
part of the services market access inquiries. 
 
============================ 
AN ENVIRONMENTAL PARTNERSHIP 
============================ 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Senator Cantwell, whose visit centered on a conference 
on green technology sponsored by Shanghai's American Chamber of 
Commerce, noted the similarities between Shanghai and Seattle, 
which both "look to the Pacific Ocean and to the future."  She 
explained the vital role of hydroelectric power in Washington 
State and detailed her state's current efforts to accommodate 
electric cars and create neighborhoods of "zero homes" that, 
rather than taking energy from the power grid, put energy back 
onto the grid.  She raised the possibility of direct cooperation 
between Washington State and Shanghai on energy issues, 
particularly with respect to smart grid technology.  The Senator 
praised Yang for his vision of the 2010 World Expo as a force to 
pull the world out of the current economic downturn and 
reiterated Secretary Clinton's strong commitment to the World 
Expo and the U.S. Pavilion.  Yang said he would pass Senator 
Cantwell's message about energy cooperation along to his 
colleagues and asked Senator Cantwell to thank Secretary Clinton 
for all of her efforts to promote the World Expo.  Yang said he 
hopes Secretary Clinton will attend the Expo opening ceremony 
next spring and hopes Senator Cantwell will also attend. 
CAMP