China remains in close collaboration with the Energy Charter Process, with a long track record of cooperation with the Secretariat in Brussels. The Secretariat’s delegation during this working visit held meetings with its partners in China, including the Chinese Electricity Council (CEC), with whom the Energy Charter manages the work of the Beijing Research Centre. The CEC is the largest association of power sector companies in China, with more than one thousand members. It was previously the Ministry of Power. The CEC and the Secretariat will together convene a seminar on dispute mediation in China in late November 2019, which will be held back-back with the BRC’s annual symposium. 

The Secretariat’s Expansion Unit also took advantage of the visit to China to meet with Chinese government officials who were previously seconded to the Energy Charter Secretariat in Brussels. Meetings were also held with the Shanghai Stock Exchange, as well as representatives from the Chinese private sector in the Shanghai region. China singed the International Energy Charter in 2015 and completed the necessary accession reports to accede to the Energy Charter Treaty in 2018.