Historically, when speaking with people about where China has a leg up in “cleantech”, I would point to battery technologies. It was an area that was seeing a lot of VC interest 5 years ago, where the US was clearly not interested, and was a space where once perfected could be owned and licensed by Chinese firms to the US.
Another one of the areas that I have also followed was lighting, specifically CFL and LED. Light bulbs is one of those industries that is heavily dependent on manufacturing costs, and it was an area that China was really focused on… as I found out 3 years ago while trying to source LED light bulbs for a US firm.
At the time, a lot of production was happening in Xiamen and Ningbo, but my client was still sourcing his high end LED from Korea and Taiwan (at a significantly cost increase) because the technical expertise/ machinery was not in China yet… and he wasn’t comfortable enough to bring it.
However, as the industry has improved and the pressure to bring costs down continues, China’s desire to own this market will be aided by collaborations like this one.
Companies and research organizations in Taiwan and China engaged in the light emitting diode (LED) lighting industry will seek to cooperate with each other to jointly establish the LED standards on the world market, said Premier Liu Chao-shiuan.
I think that warrants being repeated (with my emphasis):
Companies and research organizations in Taiwan and China engaged in the light emitting diode (LED) lighting industry will seek to cooperate with each other to jointly establish the LED standards on the world market.
Looks like Mr. Gore has another post to write
UPDATE: Since writing this post, The China Post released another article 30 percent of manufacturing industries to be allowed for Chinese investment: Yiin where the following passage highlights the breadth of this agreement:
The minister continued that the manufacturing industries covered by the bridging program include photovoltaic, in-car information/communications, aircraft, LED (light emitting diode) lighting, wind power, auto, foodstuff. logistics, precision machinery and information services.
