China will join the Government Steering Committee of FutureGen, a programme initiated in 2003 by US President George W. Bush to build a giant zero-emission, coal-fired electric and hydrogen production plant.

Slated to be a 10-year effort, the programme plans to collect an international fund of about US$950 million. Under the scheme, each signatory needs to contribute US$10 million.
Li Xin, an official with the Ministry of Science and Technology, said the government was expected to sign a formal agreement of its participation next year.

"We haven't started negotiations about the details," he said.

According to Gong Zhongming, a domestic energy technology researcher, discussions may revolve around China's access to technology from the project, and how FutureGen's results could help both China and the United States solve their respective energy woes.

"In the long run, the new technology to be brought by the coal-based programme will help China improve our energy efficiency," said Gong, who works at the National Research Centre for Science and Technology for Development.

He said the country, a big coal producer and consumer, should apply more of its coal reserves to power generation to make the best use of it.

India and the Republic of Korea were the first two participants in FutureGen.
China Huaneng Group, the country's leading power corporation, was a step ahead of the government as it joined the programme last year as a company member.

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