Sweden, one of the world's leading countries in clean technology, is aggressively looking for opportunities to partner with China, one of the world's larger "green" markets.

China has vowed to cut its energy consumption per unit of GDP by some 20 percent from 2005 to 2010. It has also agreed to reduce emissions of its main pollutants by 10 percent.

The government's directive has created enormous opportunities for investors at home and abroad in the search for advanced technologies to help clean up the environment and improve energy efficiencies.

Related readings: Innovation and Creativity in China — Sweden Open Day Pirate Party into EU parliament: partial results The China Greentech Report 2009, released earlier this month, stated that China's green technology market would attract more investments and estimated the market had a potential value of up to $1 trillion annually.

"Sweden is a world leader in both clean technologies and clean-technology applications, with numerous opportunities for foreign investors in renewable energy and sustainable technologies," Per-Erik Sandlund, president and director general of Invest in Sweden Agency (ISA), said in an exclusive interview with China Business Weekly.

ISA is a government agency under the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs that informs foreign investors about business and investment opportunities in Sweden - including bilateral investments in clean technologies.

"The Swedish government has consistently put a lot of money into research and innovation of clean technologies, and there is a big emphasis on it in our government budget," Sandlund said.

The country's clean-tech industry comprises 3,600 companies with 46,000 employees, he said. Companies such as Alfa Laval, Evac and Purac make up the country's green industry cluster.

Those clean-tech companies contributed to Sweden's exports, which grew by 75 percent during a three-year period ending in 2006.

Chinese President Hu Jintao said during a State visit to Sweden in 2007 that the two countries should work together in fields such as telecommunications, environmental protection and energy conservation.

Memorandum

Later, the two countries signed a formal Memorandum of Understanding to encourage bilateral cooperation on energy conservation and environmental protection.

"The two countries have huge potential to cooperate in the fields of wind power, solar energy, biofuel and so on," Sandlund said.