The main Chinese cooperation partner has been the Ministry of Environmental Protection. Over the years, the two partners have implemented projects addressing:
- industrial pollution prevention and control
- trade and environment
- implementation of international conventions
- protection of drinking water sources
- chemicals management
- etc.
This cooperation took place within the framework of Sweden’s bilateral development cooperation with China, which was terminated at the end of 2013.
Since 2014, the Swedish EPA’s cooperation with China takes place within the framework of the bilateral cooperation with countries of strategic importance for the international cooperation on environment and climate change. The cooperation is based on mutual interest and aims at building long-term partnership for sharing knowledge and experiences on environmental policies and management, promoting constructive dialogues and cooperation on negotiating and implementation of international agreements etc.
Sweden has been supporting and participating in the “China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development” for many years, and this will continue to be a priority area. Another area is to provide input to the on-going reform processes in China to enhance management instruments and systems for the prevention and control of pollutions from industries and other point sources. In this context, the experiences of the integrated environmental permitting in Sweden, which has been in practice since 1969, are of high interest. The Swedish EPA is also cooperating with the Foreign Economic Cooperation Office of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, on phasing down of Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) through district cooling and Not-in-Kind options.