WASHINGTON - China and the United Sates on Thursday expanded their EcoPartnership program with the signing of six new partnerships to reduce greenhouse gases emissions and improve energy efficiency as well as create jobs.

The new agreements will add six partnerships to the original group of 18, said Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi at a signing ceremony during the fifth round of China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Washington.

"Today, another six pairs of Chinese and American institutes will join the partnerships, please accept my warm welcome and hearty congratulations," Yang said.

"I'm hopeful and confident that the 24 pairs of EcoPartners will draw on their respective needs and comparative advantages, fully tap into their cooperation potential and constantly innovate on their model of cooperation to maximize the outcomes of the partnerships," he said.    

At the signing ceremony, US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns said: "The six new EcoPartnerships we are committing to today are the best of the best. Some of you will be working on energy efficiency while others will be creating cutting-edge technologies to use landfill gas, conserve our groundwater resources and create plant-based plastic bottles. Whatever your project, I wish you the vest best in your work together."

Under the agreements, China's Yangtze River Delta Circular Economy Technology Research Institute and US giant Coca-Cola will work together to develop a way to use agricultural waste to produce Coke's plastic bottles while Peking University will cooperate with New York Institute of Technology to protect groundwater resources.

Tongji University will team up with Stony Brook University to test a suite of cutting-edge landfill-gas-to-liquids technologies. Guizhou International Cooperation Center for Environmental Protection and Raven Ridge Resources will jointly seek to open China's market for draining and utilizing coal mine methane.

Beijing Energy Conservation and Environment Protection Center and US Natural Resources Defense Council will partner to improve smart grid's energy efficiency and management, while China's National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation will come into partnership with the US Institute for Sustainable Communities in efforts to help translate national- level clean energy policies into local action.

The EcoPartnership program was established in December in 2008 under the US-China Ten-Year Framework for Cooperation on Energy and Environment to formally link stakeholders from both countries to work on clean energy and sustainable development.