China Cookstoves and Fuels International Conference was held in Beijing on May 19-20th, 2014. Jointly hosted by the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves (Alliance), the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of China, the Conference aims at promoting clean cooking and heating solutions in China and the world.
At the Conference, participants agreed that the extension of clean cookstoves will help reduce household air pollution (HAP), facilitate the transformation of production and living style in rural areas and protect environment and conserve soil and water. Itwill also produce social and economic benefits, particularly in improving women and children's health, creating employment opportunities to reduce poverty in rural areas as well as promoting the development of related industries.
The Conference announced China's national target of a minimum of 40 million households adopting clean and efficient cookstoves by the year 2020, and phasing out all lower-efficient cookstoves by the year 2030.
The Conference has brought together 250 participants from government agencies, education and research institutions, and enterprises of over 10 countries as well as international organizations. During the Conference, participants exchanged the latest developments in clean cookstoves and fuels, and had an in-depth discussion on China's action plan for clean cookstoves, and put forward suggestions on the extension of clean and efficient household cooking solutions in China and the world.
MOA attaches great importance to the extension of clean cookstoves in rural areas and supports basic research, standard-setting, demonstration activities and commercialization in the area. By the end of 2013, China had installed 123 million coal-saving stoves, over 31 million energy-saving ovens and over 19 million Kangs (heatable brick beds in north China for heating in winter),benefiting a total of 150 million households with 500 million rural people.
In November of 2013, MOA Agricultural Ecology & Resource Protection Center and the Alliance initiated a market surveyon cookstoves and fuels in China. The survey was carried out in 120 counties of 6 provinces/municipalities, covering 59 types of stoves and 75 enterprises specialized in fuel production. The result of the survey gave a clear picture of energy consumption in rural areas, the development of the clean stove industry as well as the related market in China, which will provide technical basis to China's policies on clean cookstoves in the future.