In mid-August 2023, Energy Foundation China (EF China) and Hainan Province inked their second five-year memorandum of understanding (MOU), after the two parties first entered into a partnership in 2018. The new MOU was signed during a two-day visit of a EF China delegation to the island province at China’s southernmost point for in-depth discussions with local stakeholders on green, low carbon, and high-quality development efforts.

Mao Dongli, Director-General of Hainan’s Department of Ecology and Environment, and Zou Ji, CEO and President of EF China, co-signed the strategic cooperation document for 2023–2028 on August 17, with a common goal of propelling Hainan province into a global leader of high environmental quality, low emissions, and efficient resource utilization by 2035. The collaboration is designed to cover five areas—research on green and high-quality development strategy, decarbonization pilots, studies on innovative management mechanisms and economic policies, international cooperation and capability building, and low carbon consumption and strategic communications—on the themes of climate mitigation, clean energy, decarbonized transportation, electrification, and international exchange and cooperation. These endeavors seek to foster an integration of research and practical application, thereby creating a compelling narrative of Hainan’s economic growth driven by zero carbon development.

EF China colleagues also had a roundtable discussion with Hainan regulators including Qi Shuli, Director-General of the Provincial Development and Reform Commission, to explore how to build Hainan into a clean energy island. The two parties agreed that their future collaboration will concentrate on areas including research on island-wide zero carbon energy planning, pathways for renewable energy, infrastructure planning for electric trucks, subnational-level international exchange and cooperation, and technical assistance from multilateral development banks.

EF China and Hainan Province signed their first five-year MOU on strategic cooperation in 2018, which aimed to help the tropical island achieve world-class air quality standards and become a national leader in zero carbon development. Under this framework, findings of EF China-supported analysis and education projects have contributed to Hainan’s efforts in improving air quality, combating climate change, and achieving synthetic pollution reductions and carbon mitigation. Over the next five years, EF China will continue its support to help build the province into the world’s first carbon-neutral free trade port. For the next step, the two parties plan to integrate international experience with the practicalities of Hainan and discussion more about potential collaboration projects.