China Environmental Law

The balance of the year seems to be chock full of cleantech conferences, forums, and symposia. What money there is left out there seems to be chasing cleantech deals, and every budding entrepreneur is preparing a business plan for a new product or service.  I’m not complaining mind you.  It’s good for business here at CELB, and usually good for the environment. 

Shanghai is becoming cleantech central in China as many of the policy drivers are now in place, and it’s actually time to get something done.  Don’t get me wrong, there is still plenty the central government can do to aid the cleantech market, but enough has been done that the general contours of what the fully-developed regulatory framework will look like are becoming fairly clear. 

The folks at Shui On Development Ltd are capitalizing on Shanghai’s role by developing the Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) in the City’s Yangpu District, “a complex already home to a number of IT firms,” into a base which “aims to attract more startups, research agencies, consultancies, VCs and other stakeholders in the clean tech industries.” 

The KIC, held a forum yesterday which brought “together clean tech players and VCs,” and “signed several partnership agreements with the newly set Shanghai Environment & Energy Exchange, Greenstar Fund and others to facilitate its future development in the clean tech sector.”  The goal is to create a “Silicon Valley-like innovation center for clean technologies.”  I know, I know; every two-bit “zone” in China aims to become the next Silicon Valley of something, but KIC and environs have a shot at pulling it off in the cleantech space for reasons that I will address later in this space.  Check back in after the National Day holiday.