Provincial People's Congress Deputy Shuping Bian: Open Northward for High-Quality Cooperation in the Energy Sector

Source: Harbin Municipal People's Congress

Heilongjiang, as China's forefront in opening up and cooperating with Russia, is a critical node in the Belt and Road Initiative. Relying on its unique geographical advantages, in 2023, Heilongjiang has deeply integrated into and served the high-quality development of the Belt and Road, promoting trade, investment, channels, ports, and platform construction, and achieving significant progress in expanding economic and trade cooperation with Russia. Regarding energy cooperation, provincial representative Shuping Bian suggested promoting collaboration between Heilongjiang, Mongolia, and Russia in developing passive houses, renovating old energy sources, and establishing a new energy "Belt and Road" between Heilongjiang, Mongolia, and Russia, deepening pragmatic cooperation between these regions and with other countries worldwide.

Developing "Passive House"

In recent years, the Passive House building standard has gained wide recognition around the world due to its outstanding energy efficiency. Passive houses can minimize reliance on fossil fuels and save 90% of energy compared to ordinary buildings. This not only helps to alleviate energy pressure, but also helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, extend the life of houses, make them more comfortable to live in, and conform to the trend of global sustainable development.

In the past decade, China has developed rapidly in the field of building energy conservation, and is reaching to the Europe standard. Heilongjiang is one of the first provinces in China to introduce passive houses. It has a long history, mature technology and rich experience in building energy conservation. It is only because of insufficient capital investment that there are still relatively few projects at present. The climate in Mongolia and Russia is extremely cold, with huge energy consumption and high carbon emissions harming the environment.

Shuping Bian therefore suggested that Heilongjiang vigorously promote cooperation between Heilongjiang, Mongolia and Russia to develop passive houses, jointly develop energy-saving buildings and related industrial supporting facilities, and contribute to energy saving and emission reduction, environmental protection and thus prevent climate change, demonstrate the responsibility of a major country. Consolidate comprehensive energy partner relationships and strengthen long-term cooperation in key energy fields. Taking advantage of its unique locational advantages, Heilongjiang is making every effort to create a new highland for China's northward opening-up, and give full play to cooperation, platform construction and technological advantage output in the field of energy.