On February 21, 2022, the beginning of Year of the Tiger in 2022, Grace Carey, Science and Technology Counsellor and other officials at British Embassy Beijing visited the International Hydrogen Energy Center (IHEC). Mr. Qinxian Jin, Vice Secretary General of Tsinghua University, also the Director of Beijing Tsinghua Industrial R&D Institute (BTIRDI) and Mr. Xiaolong Fu, Associate Director of BTIRDI, attended the meeting.

The officials paid visits to the innovative institutes under BTIRDI in Zhongguancun Dongsheng International Science Park, including Global Health Drug Discovery Institute (GHDDI), Global Healthcare Innovation Center (GHIC) 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 industry chain of the production, storage, transportation and application of hydrogen energy in a full view, as well as the progress of the UNIDO hydrogen energy projects and the current development situation of hydrogen energy industry in the UK, Australia, Japan, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and other countries, which were highly appreciated by the officials. The two sides also held a meeting in the IHEC.

During the talks, Director Jin extended a warm welcome to the delegation of British Embassy Beijing and introduced the basic situation of Tsinghua university, BTIRDI and the IHEC at first. Mr. Jin said that hydrogen energy is a priority of the strategy of BTIRDI, for which the institute has cultivated Sinohytec and other leading science and technology companies in the field. Recently, with the support of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology and the China International Center for Economic and Technical Exchanges, BTIRDI has cooperated with UNIDO to build the IHEC, and successfully held the first International Hydrogen Energy Industry Development Forum, which has been highly praised by governments, scientific research institutions and leading enterprises around the world. At present, the IHEC is collaborating with world’s top scientific research institutions and leading enterprises to jointly carry out hydrogen energy technology research and development, equipment manufacturing and application demonstration. Director Jin also made a review of the cooperation between BTIRDI and the government, enterprises and universities of the UK in the past years, and said the IHEC expects further exploration and cooperation with the UK in the future, in a bid to continuously promote global technology research and industry development of hydrogen energy.

Ms. Grace Carey expressed her gratitude to BTIRDI and IHEC for inviting her to give a speech at the International Hydrogen Energy Industry Development Forum last year and to visit the IHEC Beijing headquarter this time. Hydrogen energy is a very important part of the decarbonization goal and an important means to achieve the sustainable development goals in the future. China and the UK have been closely cooperated with each other in recent years. The UK government released the National Hydrogen Energy Strategy in 2021, which was designed to vigorously develop low-carbon and sustainable energy. The UK also expects cooperation with other countries to explore and promote the development of hydrogen energy and its affordable application and popularization. Ms. Grace Carey was glad to see the in-depth cooperation between the Embassy, ERA and BTIRDI, which serves as a bridge linking the hydrogen energy cooperation between the two sides. Ms. Grace Carey also expressed her high hopes for the seminar to be held in March between Tsinghua University and ERA.

During the meeting , Mr. David Giles, Head of Energy Transition and Integration of Department for International Trade (DIT) at British Embassy Beijing, introduced the representative enterprises of different links in the industry chain of hydrogen energy and the technologies they are good at. The two sides also had a discussion on the application of green hydrogen and green ammonia in China.

The Two Sides Taking Pictures in the IHEC

Officials from British Embassy Beijing including David Giles, Head of Energy Transition and Integration of Department for International Trade (DIT); Helen Dewberry, First Secretary, Science and Technology; Jiang Jingjing, Senior Science Policy Officer; Morag Brown, Senior Policy Officer; and Chen Xiaoshan, Policy Lead Low Carbon Transport and Emerging Energy Technologies of Energy Team, and Ms. April Qian, Head of Global Affairs of Beijing Tsinghua Industrial R&D Institute, also attended the above-mentioned event and meeting.