Last week, Xi's meetings with various prominent US firms emphasize the importance of US-China trade and investment. China's development aspirations rely on innovation, and this is where businesses shine. By working together with government, companies operating in China can green their operations, build climate-resilient supply chains, and scale up low-carbon technologies.

Many companies are already pursuing opportunities to partner with government and with other like-minded businesses.

As a signatory to Obama's American Business Act on Climate Pledge, Apple has pledged to power its global corporate facilities with 100 percent renewable energy. In China, Apple has partnered with SunPower, Tianjin Zhonghuan Semiconductor, and other companies to develop a solar-energy project in Sichuan Province. The project will generate up to 80 million kilowatt-hours of electricity, more than enough to power all of its offices and retail stores in China. By demonstrating the viability of renewable energy, Apple will encourage its suppliers to do the same.

H&M is also investing in renewable energy projects in China. Through its partnership with the Natural Resources Defense Council's Clean by Design program, as well as through H&M's work with RE100, the company is developing innovative solutions to reduce the environmental and climate impacts of its stores and the factors in its supply chain.

Meanwhile, IBM is supporting China's drive to reduce fossil fuels with weather-forecasting technologies and big-data analytics that predict the availability of renewable energy. This will help utility companies minimize energy waste and improve grid stability. IBM's solution has been used in renewable energy projects throughout the country, including in China's largest renewable-energy initiative, the Zhangbei Demonstration Project.

These are but a few examples demonstrating that low-carbon collaboration is big business on both sides of the Pacific. At Business for Social Responsibility, we will be working closely with the We Mean Business coalition and others in the business community from both the US and China to capitalize on the positive momentum policymakers have achieved yet again.

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