China's Ministry of Construction signed a cooperation memorandum on "green" building technology with American Standard Corporation Wednesday.

The agreement is an important step in strengthening its cooperation with foreign companies to promote China's development of green building technology, Qiu Baoxing, vice minister of construction said at the signing ceremony of the memorandum.

According to the cooperation memorandum, American Standard Corporation helped China launch the award for the best green buildings in the country, said Qiu.

The energy consumption per unit for Chinese construction is two or three times that of developed countries. Qiu said he believed that it is urgent for China to promote energy-efficiency buildings because the pace of China's industrialization and urbanization is putting pressure on the supply of energy and resources

With a scientific and systematic design, energy-efficiency and green buildings embraced high technologies including natural ventilation, natural lighting and water recycling, in a bid to make a full use of the resources and have the minimum effect on the environment, he said.

American Standard is a muli-national corporation and manufacturer of bathroom facilities. It began business in China twenty-five years ago.

Source: Xinhua