More than 400 companies and enterprises from 22 countries participated in the Clean Energy Expo China 2010 and the Asian Wind Energy Exhibition on June 23 in Beijing.

The 25,000 square-meter 3-day combined exhibition gave visitors an opportunity to discuss the opportunities for developing clean energy technologies and to explore a viable clean energy future.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Wei Zhaofeng, vice president of the China Electricity Council, said the Expo was a unique trading and knowledge-sharing platform for the clean energy industry.

"The conference brings key industry players together to discuss opportunities, bottlenecks and innovations in this important and growing industry," Wei said. "This is a partnership between China and other countries to promote capacity building, clean energy and energy efficiency technology, support, carbon management and project financing."

He said that because renewable energy resources are rich, clean and sustainable, China attaches great importance to their use and regards clean energy as one of the most important instruments to promote socio-economic development.

At present, China's energy consumption is still dominated by fossil fuels, and the structure won't change in the near future. But in the long run clean energy will account for an increasing proportion of electricity generating capacity.

Figures from China Clean Energy Industry Report, 2009-2010 showed that the proportion of nuclear power, hydropower and other clean power sources increased from 19.7 percent in 2007 to 23.0 percent in March 2010, up 3.3 percentage points. As China implements preferential policies for wind power and solar energy, the proportion of clean energy in power generation will continue to increase.

In 2009, China added 10,129 wind power generating sets, with a capacity of 13803.2MW. China now has 21,544 wind power generating sets in total, with a capacity of 25805.3MW, an increase of 114 percent year-on-year.

The New York Times reported that China overtook competitors in Denmark, Germany, Spain and the United States last year to become the world's largest manufacturer of wind turbines.

"I hope the Expo will once again be a significant event for the clean energy industry in China and the whole world," Michael Dreyer, organizer of the exhibition and vice president of Koelnmesse GmbH, told China.org.cn

China's biggest advantage may be its domestic demand for electricity, rising 15 percent a year. To meet demand in the coming decade China will need to add nearly nine times more electricity generation capacity than the United States, according to statistics from the International Energy Agency.

"The market in China is booming and I think it's time for investors to come," Dreyer said.

(China.org.cn June 24, 2010)