On Tuesday 8 May 2024, AustCham China had the privilege of jointly organising the Australia-China Decarbonisation Roundtable with Tsinghua University (THU), Australian National University (ANU), and the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations (NFACR).

The event consisted of two sessions and saw the participation of around 150 attendees. We would like to thank you all for supporting this event and the insightful discussions it sparked. AustCham Board Members Hongwei Li and Craig Pasch, who lead AustCham’s Net Zero Working Group, were also in attendance.

A special thank you goes to the Carly Stevens, Counsellor (Economic) at the Australian Embassy in Beijing, Helen Horsington, Deputy CEO of NFACR, and professor Zhang Xiliang of Tsinghua University for their generous endorsement and opening speeches.

 

Session One: Green Steel

In session one, topics of discussion included low-carbon developments within the Chinese and Australian iron and steel industries, as well as the reorganisation of global value chains for green steel production.

We were honoured to be joined by six speakers:

• Frank Jotzo (moderator), Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy at ANU
• Linwei Ma, tenured Associate Professor, Ph.D. supervisor and Deputy Dean of the Department of Energy and Power Engineering; Director of Tsinghua-Rio Tinto Joint Research Center for Resources, Energy and Sustainable development
• Nicole Wyche, Industry Decarbonisation Manager at WWF Australia
• Changliang Liu, Director of Sustainability at Nanjing Iron & Steel Co., Ltd.
• Juan (Grace) Liu, Director, Overseas Business of HBIS Group Co., Ltd.
• Jorrit Gosens, Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy at ANU

 

Session Two: Renewables Value Chains

In session two, our speakers discussed the future of renewable energy in China and beyond, as well as specific topics such as the role of solar energy in a net-zero future and the connection between renewable energy and green steel.

 

There were four distinguished speakers for session two:

• Fei Teng (moderator), Tenured Professor, Deupty Director, the Institute of Energy, Envrionment and Economy at Tsinghua University
• Shaojun Zeng, Academic Vice Chairman and Secretary General at China New Energy Chamber of Commerce
• Kylie Catchpole, Professor, School of Engineering at Australian National University
• Yuyan Weng, Assistant Professor, the Institute of Energy, Environment, and Economy at Tsinghua University

The Roundtable concluded with a summary from Howard Bamsey, Honorary Professor of the School of Regulation and Global Governance at Australian National University, and some closing remarks by professor Zhang Xiliang.

Once again, AustCham China would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all supporters of the event, including our partners THU, ANU, and NFACR. Thank you to our speakers for their insight and contribution to a greener future. We hope to see you at our next event.