On November 19, a delegation led by Henry Paulson, Chairman of the Paulson Institute, visited the U.S.-China Green Fund and met with the team. Xu Lin, Chairman of the Fund, Bai Bo, CEO of the Fund, and the team warmly welcomed Mr. Paulson and the Paulson Institute delegation.
Xu Lin began his remarks by recognizing the U.S.-China Green Fund as the first and only state-level green investment fund in China. The Fund was established in 2015 under the auspices of the Office of the Central Commission for Finance and Economy of CPC as an innovative financial mechanism for green development in China.
He also commended Mr. Paulson is a political and business leader with international insights, and expressed his appreciation for his strategic focus on China’s low-carbon and sustainable development, and advisory support provided to the Fund. Fund CEO Bai Bo followed with a briefing on the Fund’s work in fundraising, investment, and post-investment management over the past three years.
As one of the key initiators for the establishment of the Fund, Mr. Paulson said excitedly that he was very pleased to visit the Fund office in Beijing to meet and talk with the team. He expressed that he had not anticipated that the Fund would be as successful as it is today thinking back to 2015 when it was first proposed as a market-based platform for facilitating green cooperation between the two countries, and that he was delighted at the Fund’s accomplishment to date.
Mr. Paulson highlighted that while China’s economic restructuring and financial governance have had some impact on the market environment in the recent years and the U.S. and China trade friction has also caused some uncertainty, it nevertheless remains clear that China has continued to pursue green development. He concluded with the Paulson Institute’s commitment in support of China’s green development and of collaboration with U.S. green industry sectors.
Deborah Lehr, Vice Chairman and Executive Director of the Paulson Institute, expressed her congratulations to the Fund on its achievements as well——from what started as an initial idea to now an entity with an outstanding track record. Despite the U.S.-China bilateral tensions, she said, the Fund continues to improve the environment by investing in the green sector while playing its role to build a bridge between China and the U.S. in private sector.
Li Xunmin, Deputy Director General of the Office of the Central Commission for Finance and Economy of CPC, participated in the meeting as well. He was directly involved in establishment of the Fund in 2015 and also praised the growth of the Fund from just an initiative to increasingly a proper business. Importantly, he flagged that the Fund makes its investment decisions by assessing both economic and environmental impacts, and though it was set up under the government’s guidance, the Fund operates as a market-based mechanism and adheres to invest in green as stated in its mission. This makes the Fund unique.
Tackling the environment question is the most pressing challenge to the world today, and it can be only resolved with the joint collaborative efforts of the U.S. and China. To conclude, Mr. Paulson expressed his hope that everyone should make efforts to promote non-governmental collaborations and communications between the U.S. and China, so as to continue the advancement of green development in China and globally.