Portuguese Ambassador to China: CTG is a socially responsible Chinese company

On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the partnership between China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG) and Energias de Portugal (EDP), José Augusto Duarte, the Portuguese Ambassador to China, extended his congratulations to both companies and spoke highly of CTG"s investment in EDP in 2011. "The process of investment by CTG... is a public offer where CTG showed up with the best offer. Not just financially, but also the best industrial plan...  It brought more liquidity to the EDP. It was very beneficial for EDP, very beneficial also for our economy. It was really beneficial for the CTG and its internationalisation process which is necessary in this area more than ever." said Duarte.

The Eurozone debt crisis in 2011 dealt a heavy blow to Portugal. While international investors pulled out of Portugal in exodus, Chinese investors stepped in. CTG, the first Chinese company making a massive investment in Portugal at the time, built a successful case of investment and partnership between Chinese and Portugese companies and embarked on a decade of productive strategic partnership with a winning streak thanks to their complementary advantages, including joint success in third market. The success story made a positive contribution to deepen the economic, trade and cultural exchange between the two countries.

The ambassador said he hoped the two companies could expand the partnership in solar and wind power as well as in areas such as the renewable energy storage technology. "There are people that are very active scientists and researchers and that are working in renewable energies in other projects that would be important for us, in my point of view, to have this co-operation. If we manage to create new products, new technologies, it will be beneficial for both of us and the rest of the world," said Duarte.

To address the global climate change, countries around the world are scrambling to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality. Portugal announced this year that it would shut down all fossil fuel power plants by 2050. The ambassador expected Portugal and China, in light of the climate challenges, could further their cooperation in the renewable sectors to realize carbon neutrality.

“The challenges China faces are much bigger. With so big cities so populated, China needs other resources and other investments. I have no doubt about the creativity and the capability of the Chinese people to discover and to find the right answers," the ambassador said.

The ambassador visited the Three Gorges Project in 2019 at CTG"s invitation. What impressed him was not only the dam itself, but also CTG"s initiatives to protecting the bio-diversity in Yangtze River, especially the Chinese sturgeon.

Known as the aquatic panda, the Chinese sturgeon was endangered by human activities in late 20th century, causing the number of wild sturgeon sharply shrinking to as few as 20. Since the first release of Chinese sturgeon in 1984, CTG has released over 5.04 million Chinese sturgeon to the Yangtze River, helping replenish the population of the species and its sustainable reproduction.

Commenting on CTG being the official partner of Beijing Winter Olympics, Ambassador José Augusto Duarte said the move “is a kind of social responsibility in a certain way."

"For CTG, it is a big Chinese enterprise to co-operate with the Chinese authorities and to help financially in sponsoring the game," said the ambassador, "So, I think it"s a nice gesture and secondly it gives visibility because it gives more publicity for them for their for companies and companies also need not just the results, but also public image..."

CTG"s installed power generation capacity exceeded 100 million kilowatts on November 8, 2021, with clean energy accounting for about 96 percent of output, a milestone in its goal of building a world-class clean energy group. It will maintain a secure supply of clean energy during winter and next spring as well as empower Beijing Winter Olympics through concrete actions.