Cooperation

Locke said that China and the U.S., both leaders in clean energy, should work more closely together.

This will help to sustain long-term economic growth and create jobs in both countries, he said.

"More importantly, it will help answer the defining environmental challenge of our time: avoiding the catastrophe of climate change."

Zha Daojiong, an energy expert at Peking University, said that clean energy technologies even faces the obstacle of high cost when being promoted in the U.S..

Whether the two sides can work to realize commercialization and reduce cost will decide how far the bilateral cooperation can go, Zha said.

Locke said in Hong Kong a week ago that "concrete proposals" on the export control regime could be expected within the next several months.

"Various reports and studies have indicated that some restrictions of export control have inhibited U.S. companies' sales of emerging technologies," he said. "We believe that some of these restrictions we have on the U.S. companies make absolutely no sense."

China agreed that clean energy will be a highlight in China-U.S. trade cooperation. Meanwhile, China urges the United States to take moves toward easing restrictions on exports to China.

"The clean energy projects involve huge investments and long-term planning. The U.S. export restrictions, if not loosened, are a barrier for future cooperation between the two countries," said China's Vice Minister of Commerce, Ma Xiuhong.