From February 20th to 21st 2025, the Award Ceremony and Annual Event of the 3rd Bluetech Carbon Neutrality Pioneers Award were held in Changzhi City, Shanxi Province. This event focused on the cutting-edge advancements and pioneering forces in carbon neutrality, attracting numerous green innovation and technology enterprises, enterprises with demand for green technology, top experts and scholars, investment institutions, and government representatives to gather together. They jointly witnessed the release of the 3rd Bluetech Carbon Neutrality Pioneers Award, discussed the path of empowering high-quality green development with intellectual property rights, and explored ways to promote green transformation and high-quality development in Changzhi City through innovative technology, finance, and intellectual property tools.
Green Changzhi: Anchoring on Green Transformation and Introducing the Bluetech Award
In his opening speech, Chen Xiangyang, Mayor of Changzhi City, Shanxi Province, stated that in 2024, Changzhi achieved a regional GDP of 259.3 billion yuan, ranking the third in Shanxi Province. The city has forged a modern industrial system rooted in traditional industries such as coal, coke, metallurgy, electricity, and chemicals, while emerging industries like optoelectronics, LEDs, photovoltaics, electronics and information, manufacturing, and biomedicine serve as new engines of growth. Changzhi is among the first batch of old industrial cities and resource-based cities in China designated as demonstration areas for industrial transformation and upgrading. It is also a pilot city for climate finance and carbon peaking. The holding of the Award Ceremony and Annual Event of the 3rd Bluetech Carbon Neutrality Pioneers Award provides Changzhi with a valuable opportunity to further engage with the latest green technologies and forward-thinking ideas. Taking advantage of this event, Changzhi will focus on key carbon neutrality sectors such as renewable energy, hydrogen energy and fuel cells, energy storage, and circular economy, facilitate connections with innovative achievements, develop green finance, and accelerate project implementation.
Lv Guoliang, former Deputy Director of the China Office of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and former Director of the International Department of the National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), emphasized that the Bluetech Carbon Neutrality Pioneers Award is a highly influential innovation and entrepreneurship event in the field of carbon neutrality. It has successfully solicited and evaluated more than 600 green technology projects from more than 20 countries. This event also serves as an acceleration activity for the launch of the WIPO GREEN City Accelerator Beijing Pilot Project by the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization. Changzhi is a key city in the revolutionary base area with a 1 on 1 counterpart cooperation relationship with Beijing. The organization of the event from Beijing to Chinagzhi could also be considered as an impressive achievement of the "Beijing-Changzhi cooperation." Notably, a distinctive feature of the Award is the establishment of a dedicated IP review procedures. As one of the judges, Director Lv observed during the review process that although many technology enterprises possess highly innovative technologies, they have shortcomings in intellectual property layout, particularly in international layout. The global service system provided by WIPO can play a crucial role in addressing this issue.
Wu Xiaoqin, Deputy Director and Party Member of the Intellectual Property Administration of Shanxi Province, stated that during this competition, numerous outstanding Bluetech green technology enterprises and scientific research institutions presented a series of forward-thinking and practical technological solutions in the field of carbon neutrality. The active participation of local green technology demanding enterprises and innovative enterprises in Changzhi has provided many opportunities for the commercialization and industrialization of these achievements in Changzhi. In recent years, the Intellectual Property Administration of Shanxi Province has vigorously promoted technological innovation and application in the renewable energy industry in line with the decisions and deployments of the provincial party committee and government. The holding of the Bluetech Carbon Neutrality Pioneers Award by the Changzhi Municipal Government fully reflects the concept of transformational development and innovation-driven development of the Changzhi Municipal Party Committee and Government. It is expected that the cooperation between the Bluetech Clean Air Alliance and Changzhi will achieve a successful outcome, infusing green momentum into Changzhi's green transformational development and Shanxi's high-quality and comprehensive transformation.
"Create a new blueprint with Bluetech, and pioneers will unfold grand visions." Zhu Jing, Deputy Mayor of Changzhi Municipal Government, introduced that holding the Bluetech Carbon Neutrality Pioneers Award is a significant measure to thoroughly study and implement the important expositions and instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping regarding the dual-carbon strategy. It is also an inherent requirement for implementing the new development concept, building a new development paradigm, and promoting high-quality development. As a city with rich historical and cultural heritage and abundant ecological resources, Changzhi has always adhered to the development concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets. It actively explores the path of green and low-carbon development and strives to create a typical case of a climate finance-driven transformation and upgrading demonstration zone for old industrial cities.
Expert Forum: Empowering High-Quality Green Development with Intellectual Property
Yu Bitao, Deputy General Manager of Beijing Guozhi Patent Early Warning Consulting Co., Ltd., delivered a keynote report on the progress of global green and low-carbon patent statistics on behalf of the Project Team for Statistical Analysis of Green and Low-Carbon Patents, National Intellectual Property Administration. She introduced that in 2023, the number of globally published green and low-carbon patent applications reached 193,000, with the China National Intellectual Property Administration having the highest number of published applications at 97,000, followed by the United States Patent and Trademark Office with 22,000. From 2016 to 2023, China's cumulative number of published green and low-carbon patent applications reached 573,000, accounting for 44.9% of the global total. The number of patents for green and low-carbon technologies in China has continued to grow, especially with active innovation in fields such as clean energy and energy storage. Enterprises should closely follow technological trends, strengthen R&D investment, and seize technological high ground.
Xie Hongxing, Chairman and Director of Bluetech Clean Air Alliance and National Coordinator of the UN WIPO GREEN China City Accelerator Project, discussed the IP strategy for green technology enterprises. "China's carbon neutrality target will create market opportunities worth 500 trillion Yuan (RMB), and the global market will be even larger. Carbon neutrality has become an important strategic area for commercial and technological competition among countries." He believes that enterprises must formulate an intellectual property strategy that matches their business strategy, which is also an important guarantee for green technology enterprises to build new quality productivity. "China's green technology enterprises have gained certain advantages in research and development as well as technological advancement, but many industries are caught in a dilemma of intense internal competition. To build new quality productivity, intellectual property should be taken as the core, and brand advantages and barriers should be built around intellectual property to form a differentiated competition route. Only in this way can enterprises gain the right to speak and pricing power to balance the industrial chain, ensuring the sustainability of their profits." Bluetech Clean Air Alliance is cooperating with the World Intellectual Property Organization to provide systematic IP strategic support for China's green technology enterprises.
Addressing Challenges: Innovation Technology and Demand Release, Supply-Demand Matching
The event announced the winners and finalists of the 3rd Bluetech Carbon Neutrality Pioneers Award and held an award ceremony. A total of 18 projects, including HydoTech Hydrogen Energy Technology Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Harog Technology Co., Ltd., Shaoxing Meikele Biotechnology Co., Ltd., and Beijing Heracles Novel Technology Co., Ltd. etc, won the Pioneer Award, while 20 projects were named finalists. Award-giving guests, including judges, experts, supporting partners from home and abroad, as well as government representatives from Changzhi City, presented awards to the winners. The award-winning projects covered multiple key areas of carbon neutrality, including hydrogen energy, energy storage, carbon capture and utilization, green new materials, circular economy, energy conservation, and energy-carbon management.
At the event site, five key enterprises in Changzhi, namely Shanxi RiShengDa New Energy Group Co.,Ltd (RiShengDa), Shanxi Victory Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd (Victory Automobile), Changzhi Chenghua Recycling Technology Co., Ltd. (Chenghua Recycling), Shanxi Lu'an Coal-based Clean Energy Co., Ltd. (Lu'an Coal-based Clean Energy), and Jinding Iron & Steel Group Coking and Chemical Co., Ltd. (Jinding Iron & Steel), released their first batch of green technology needs. A signing ceremony for cooperation agreements between technology providers and demanders was also held. RiShengDa reached a cooperation intention with Anhui Zhongnai New Materials on ceramic fibre preparation, and Jinding Iron & Steel reached a cooperation intention with Waves (Shanghai) Biology Science &Technology Co., Ltd. on organic waste treatment.
The organizers invited representatives from nearly 60 Changzhi enterprises with green technology needs to attend the conference. The representatives expressed their eagerness to conduct in-depth cooperation with the participating green technology enterprises, leveraging advanced technologies to address challenges in energy conservation, emission reduction, resource utilization, and other aspects, thereby achieving green transformation and upgrading of their enterprises.
Suggestions and Contributions: Focus on Market Demand and Promote Collaborative Development
The high-level dialogue session titled "Innovative Green Technology, Boosting Low-Carbon Development in Changzhi" was hosted by Zhao Lijian, the head of the Financial Support for Green Technology Platform. Participants included Zhu Jing, Deputy Mayor of Changzhi Municipal Government, Sun Rongtao, President of Aramco Ventures, Zhang Zhenfang, Chairman of Shanxi RiShengDa New Energy Group Co.,Ltd, and Guo Zhibin, General Manager of SENOHERS Zhu Jing stated that Changzhi has achieved certain results in low-carbon development but still faces technical and financial challenges, expressing the hope to attract more green enterprises to set up operations in the city. Sun Rongtao pointed out that Aramco Ventures focuses on green energy investments and sees a broad prospect in the renewable energy sector. Zhang Zhenfang expressed the demand for green technology among local enterprises and hoped to cooperate with more enterprises. Guo Zhibin shared the company's innovative achievements and stated that the company will continue to increase R&D investment, explore new application scenarios for green technology, and maintain innovation in intellectual property rights to build a solid intellectual property barrier and enhance the company's core competitiveness.
Additional Sessions: Multiple Elements Facilitating International Cooperation and Green Development
During the four parallel events held in the afternoon of the 20th, guests from all parties actively engaged in exchanges. Ms. Ayesha Saeed, Counsellor of the Embassy of Pakistan in China, stated that she was attending the event on behalf of the Ambassador of Pakistan. Earlier, the Punjab Provincial Government of Pakistan, Punjab Bank, and Bluetech Clean Air Alliance had signed a Memorandum of Understanding, planning for the next Bluetech Carbon Neutrality Pioneers Award to be jointly hosted by Bluetech Clean Air Alliance and the Punjab Provincial Government, with a sub-competition to be held in Pakistan. She looked forward to more advanced green innovation enterprises from China establishing a presence in Pakistan. Zhao Lijie, Senior Partner of Yinghe Law Firm in Beijing, presented a special topic on "Intellectual Property Management for Technology Enterprises." During the roadshow presentation by award-winning enterprises of the Bluetech Carbon Neutrality Pioneers Award competition, experts and representatives of investment institutions highly praised the innovative technologies of the enterprises and provided targeted development suggestions. In-depth discussions were held during the Bluetech Technology Supply-Demand Matching Meeting, the Government Forum (closed-door), and the Seminar on CCER Development for Low-Concentration Coal Mine Methane Utilization (closed-door), focusing on precise matching of green technology with market demands and the utilization of low-concentration coal mine methane in Changzhi, among other issues, leading to a series of constructive ideas and solutions.On the morning of the 21st, an inspection delegation composed of foreign guests, including the Counsellor of the Embassy of Canada in China and the Counsellor of the Embassy of Pakistan in China, and representatives of Bluetech Carbon Neutrality Pioneers Award projects, visited local key enterprises in Changzhi in subgroups forinvestigation, ideas-exchanges, and forums, in order to further promote the deep integration of green technology with local enterprises and lay the foundation for the implementation of cooperation projects.
Closing Remarks: Bluetech Award Boosts Green and High-Quality Development in Changzhi
The event attracted nearly 250 guests from both domestic and international backgrounds. Organized by the People's Government of Changzhi City, Shanxi Province, the event was jointly hosted by the People's Government of Shangdang District, Changzhi City, Shanxi Province, and Bluetech Clean Air Alliance, with financial support provided by Green Tech Finance Platform and Cornerstone (Guangdong) Industry Development Co., Ltd. The successful holding of the event established an important platform for exchange and cooperation in the field of carbon neutrality. The exchange of views among the guests sparked intellectual fireworks, providing new ideas and directions for green development.
