The reduction of greenhouse gas, mainly carbon dioxide, to prevent global warming has become an urgent global priority. The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen from 7-18 December 2009 represents an historic milestone in global efforts to reach a new treaty addressing climate change and greenhouse gas reduction after 2012. To tackle climate change, the Standing Committee of the State Council decreed on 25 November 2009 that per unit of GDP in carbon dioxide emissions will be reduced 40% to 45% from 2005 levels by 2020, and that this national target would be taken into account in all long-term national economic and social development planning, and that appropriate statistical guidelines and monitoring and assessment methods would be developed. While carbon emission reduction will put great pressure and enormous challenges on China's economy and its companies, the transformation to a low carbon economy also provides great opportunities for the industrial development of new energy & environmental solutions.

Just five weeks after the historic UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, the conference offers one of the first opportunities for Chinese government officials, industry leaders, and other stakeholders to discuss these new policy and market developments, assess the next steps, learn more about available technologies and the likely direction of future technology development, hear about domestic and international efforts to resolve difficult IPR and technology transfer issues, and discuss the likely shape of international carbon market arrangements. The conference will focus on providing practical guidance and specific answers to help companies succeed in the rapidly changing business environment ahead. Those who take advantage of these opportunities will surely be the winning companies in the period ahead of us.

For attendees from other countries, the conference will provide a unique opportunity to meet our members and other Chinese participants and, for all, the chance to develop international cooperation for their mutual benefit. We hope that you will be able to participate with CEETA in this first important post-Copenhagen conference, and benefit from it.