Experts will research Dalian, in Northeast China's Liaoning Province, and Los Angeles in the US to share their experiences of sustainable development.

The organizing committee of a Sino-US research project on the two cities' urban development yesterday signed an agreement with Dalian municipal government.

According to the agreement, the local government will provide the committee with their experiences of Dalian's energy strategy.

The committee will then provide constructive suggestions to the government on how to improve energy production and use.

The project is headed by academies of sciences and engineering from China and the United States.

John Watson, US representative of the project, said the research group aims to provide recommendations for Chinese and American policy makers.

"While doing the research, we can better share our information and learn from each other," he said.

Dalian has been given a Global 500 Best Environment award by the United Nations and a China Habitat Environment Prize by the Ministry of Construction.

But the city is still facing some problems.

Vice-Mayor Qi Yumin said that the city is increasingly dependent on external resources and has not done enough to develop renewable energy.

In addition to Dalian, the committee for the project has also chosen Huainan, a city in Anhui Province, and Pittsburgh in the US for comparative studies.

Cai Ruixian, with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), said the coal city of Huainan and the steel city of Pittsburgh are facing similar environmental problems.

Yan Luguang, also with the CAS, said Huainan, covering 2,000 square kilometres, produces 40 million tons of coal annually.

In 2010, the city is to become a national coal base with a capacity of 100 million tons of coal every year.

With 40 per cent of the coal set to be consumed locally, the city will face serious pollution problems if no effective measures are taken, Yan said.

Source: China Daily