Britain was looking forward to more technological and business cooperation with China in the area of renewable energy, Margaret Beckett, British secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, said Friday in Derby, England.

"There are already some professional British energy institutes working with their Chinese colleagues. We hope to see more cooperation between the two countries on renewable energy, such as solar, wind and tidal energy, especially from the business side," Beckett told Xinhua in Derby, central England.

Referring to the Energy and Environment Ministerial Meeting in London this week, Beckett said: "We hope to bring nations with big energy needs, like China, and international investors together for multilateral discussions. And we really appreciate China's participation and contribution into this kind of talks."

Energy and environment ministers, from 20 countries with the biggest domestic energy needs, met in London on Tuesday to discuss climate change and how to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

Liu Jiang, vice-chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission, said in his keynote speech that the Chinese government had formulated its energy development strategy with priorities on energy efficiency, energy diversification, renewable energy and related technology.

Beckett said: "We respect the development of China's environment in recent years and we appreciate the government's awareness of the importance of environment to economic development."

"As a nation with large needs for energy, China has thought much deeper about the issue of environment than other countries," she said.

Speaking of the Environment and Development Ministerial meeting of G8 (Group of Eight), which concluded Friday afternoon, Beckett said the ministers agreed to support developing countries financially and technologically to tackle the threat of climate change.

Source: Xinhua