Stockholm, April 28(Greenpost)–Chinese Ambassador Gui Congyou said China is expected to achieve a non-fossil fuel model combining short-, medium-, and long-distance transport with bicycles, electric vehicles, and high-speed trains.
I am very pleased to attend the 2018 Eco-Transport 2030. This year’s session chooses China as the focus country, which shows Sweden’s recognition of China’s development in green transport and of China’s contribution to promoting sustainable development of the whole world. It also reflects Sweden’s expectation to further strengthen practical cooperation and bilateral relations with China. Hereby, I would like to sincerely thank all the Swedish friends who have organized and participated in this year’s conference, and warmly welcome the Chinese entrepreneurs, experts and scholars who have come from afar.
Green transport is a necessary way towards sustainable development, and is gaining more and more attention from the international community. Countries around the world have listed transportation as a key field for conserving energy, reducing emissions, and preventing and treating pollution. All countries are improving energy efficiency through technological innovation and industrial policies, optimizing development approaches, and striving for sustainable development of transportation.
Sweden is a world leader in sustainable development and green transport. As the first country in the world to have proposed the concept of sustainable development, Sweden has advanced technology and abundant experience in green transport. The Swedish government has set the target to become the first fossil fuel-free country by 2030, which demonstrates its determination in developing green transport and shows the international community the prospects of achieving sustainable development.
China regards the building of an ecological civilization as vital to sustain the Chinese nation’s development. In his speech at the recent Boao Forum for Asia, President Xi Jinping pointed out that we need to respect nature and treasure our planet, develop a vision of green, low-carbon and sustainable development, and share experience and jointly meet challenges.
Developing green transport is a strategic measure for China to implement the concept of green development and facilitate the building of an ecological civilization. In recent years, China has achieved remarkable results in developing green transport. China has been the world’s largest manufacturer and market of new energy vehicles for three consecutive years, with an accumulated total of 1.8 million vehicles, accounting for more than 50% of the world’s total. Bicycle sharing has swept the country. A nation-wide high-speed rail network have basically taken shape. The total length of the comprehensive transportation network exceeded 5 million kilometers. The total number of passengers in urban public transport exceeded 90 billion annually. Efficient transport models such as multi-modal transport boomed. Big data, cloud computing, mobile internet and other technologies have greatly improved transport efficiency and the results of energy-saving and emission reduction efforts. In the future, China is expected to achieve a non-fossil fuel model combining short-, medium-, and long-distance transport with bicycles, electric vehicles, and high-speed trains. By 2020, China will have basically established a green transport system which is well-planed, eco-friendly, clean and low-carbon, and highly efficient.
China and Sweden have highly compatible concepts and goals for sustainable development and green transport. Both sides have their own advantages in technology, capital, market, etc. They are highly complementary and have great potential for cooperation. We are willing to further strengthen cooperation with Sweden in green transport, clean energy, green finance, smart cities and other areas, so as to jointly make more contributions to the sustainable development of mankind.
In the future, China will continue to comprehensively deepen reform, expand opening-up, and accelerate the building of ecological civilization, which will provide broader cooperation opportunities for the international community including Sweden. We will significantly broaden market access, create a more attractive investment environment, strengthen protection of intellectual property rights, and take the initiative to expand imports. We welcome friends from all over the world to ride on China’s Economic Express and share the achievements of China’s reform, opening-up and development. We hope that both Chinese and Swedish entrepreneurs will be able to make more progress and achievement in the new journey of reform and opening-up in China.
All of you here are participants and promoters of China-Sweden cooperation in green economy and sustainable development. You are the main force for the mutually beneficial cooperation between the two sides. I hope that all of you will respond to the trend and seize the opportunity to expand cooperation for win-win results in the spirit of equality, mutual benefits, openness and innovation. The Chinese Embassy in Sweden will create more opportunities and provide better service for exchanges and cooperation between our two sides.
In conclusion, I wish this conference a complete success!
Source： Chinese Embassy website.