African officials attend Solar Energy Seminar in Lanzhou

Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province, held a graduation ceremony for the 2014 Official Seminar on Solar Energy Applications and Management for English-speaking Countries in Africa on August 5, 2014.

The seminar opened on July 9, 2014, with twenty officials from twelve African countries, including Egypt and Zimbabwe, receiving courses on renewable energy. They were presented with certificates issued by the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China.

The seminar was sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and organized by UNIDO International Solar Energy Center for Technology Promotion and Transfer (ISEC). The director of the ISEC, Xi Wenhua said that during the seminar the African officials had the opportunity to learn about renewable resource research, policies, and achievements of both China and other countries.

What’s more, the African officials also visited the large photovoltaic power station, wind farms, solar equipment enterprises and other clean energy production enterprises and stations in Guangdong province, Ningxia Hui autonomous region and other Chinese provinces.

The African officials appreciated and valued the opportunity given by China, which helped them to gain a further understanding of renewable energy.

As one energy official from Zimbabwe remarked, “The seminar has broadened our horizons, and we realized that an environmentally friendly society is the inevitable trend. The cooperation between China and African countries will achieve a win-win situation, by employing Chinese advanced technology to explore the abundant resources in Africa.”

By Li Xiaoxu and edited by Brian Salter