Green firms looking to expand into China could get a slice of funds totalling up to £100m following a deal struck by Norwich-based Adapt Low Carbon Group.
Adapt, which is based at the University of East Anglia, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the British Chinese Young Entrepreneur Incubator, paving the way for the development of a new UK-China joint venture capital fund.
The fund which is supported by Chinese businessman Weiguo Wang, president of Wahan Investment Management Co Ltd, will seek to invest in innovative carbon emission reduction technologies across the UK which have potential in the Chinese and East Asian region.
It will operate from The Enterprise Centre, set to open in May at the UEA.
The agreement, which comes in the wake of last month's landmark deal between the USA and China to cut carbon emissions, was signed at UEA by Adapt CEO Dr John French and Mr Wang, in the presence of Futao Chen, China's minister counsellor of science and technology.
Dr French said: 'Following the high level commitment between the US and China back in November, and the Sustainable Innovation Forum in Lima earlier this month, we feel part of a global movement to mobilise the green economy. We're excited by the opportunities that this relationship
represents for both Adapt and UEA, and look forward to working closely with the British Chinese Young Entrepreneur Incubator to help promote a more sustainable economy here
and abroad.'
James Griffiths, programme and fund manager at Adapt, said funding would be raised through a combination of private and public sector investors.
'It's essentially funds in China looking for a green, low carbon profile,' he said. 'China has large scale production facilities and faces huge challenges to meet the targets which have been set.
'We are going to actively help those companies that want to expand in China and East Asia.'
Yu Xiong, senior lecturer at Norwich Business School, said: 'The UK government has made innovation collaborations with China a top priority and universities in the UK are expected to drive these initiatives. This partnership will set an example for other UK universities. I look
forward to fostering this collaboration by leveraging support from both the UK and Chinese
governments.'
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