On November 26, 2021, Ms. Haruko Yoneyama, Executive Director of Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), Mr. Hidekazu Chayama, Director of JST Beijing Office, Mr. Jinghai Zhu, Head of New Energy Promotion Office of Panasonic, and Mr. Mengxiao Hou, Deputy Director of the government affairs division of Panasonic China and Northeast Asia Company, visited the International Hydrogen Energy Center (IHEC). Mr. Qinxian Jin, Director of Beijing Tsinghua Industrial R&D Institute (BTIRDI), and Mr. Xiaolong Fu, Associate Director of BTIRDI, attended the meeting.

The Japanese delegation visited the innovative institutes under BTIRDI in Zhongguancun Dongsheng International Science Park, including Global Health Drug Discovery Institute (GHDDI) and Beijing Medical Robotics Industry Innovation Center (IMC). Especially, the visit focused on the IHEC Beijing headquarter, where the international hydrogen exhibition hall shows the complete industrial chain of the production, storage, transportation and application of hydrogen energy in a full view, as well as the progress of UNIDO hydrogen energy projects and the current development situation of hydrogen energy industry in the UK, Japan, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and other countries, which were highly appreciated by the delegation.

The two sides also held a meeting in the IHEC. During the meeting, Director Jin introduced the industrial distribution of BTIRDI in hydrogen energy field and the development of the IHEC. He said that in the recent years, BTIRDI has built a relatively complete industrial ecology with the hydrogen energy industry as its core. He expressed the hope that the IHEC could build an open platform for in-depth cooperation between Chinese and Japanese enterprises, and accelerate the collaboration and cooperation of all parties in hydrogen energy and other fields by actively applying for Sino-Japanese cooperation projects, jointly carrying out technology research and development, application demonstration, etc.

Representatives of Panasonic said that as one of the foreign enterprises entering China earliest, Panasonic has been cultivating the Chinese market for over 40 years since China’s reform and opening up in 1978. They expects more cooperation between Panasonic, BTIRDI and IHEC, through which could find the angle for application in the field of hydrogen energy CCHP (Combined Cooling, Heating and Power) of buildings, so as to further promote cooperation and exchange between Chinese and Japanese enterprises in hydrogen energy industry.

Mr. Chao Ma, Manager of the energy division of the business development center of Panasonic, and Ms. April Qian, Head of Global Affairs of BTIRDI, also attended the above-mentioned event and meeting.