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BRE, Tsinghua University and Evergrande sign a £200m built environment science deal at UK-China business summit

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UK building science centre BRE, China’s top university Tsinghua and one of its largest property development companies Evergrande signed a collaborative research agreement on sustainable urbanisation today. It was one of seven exclusive UK-China collaborations that were signed as part of the UK-China business summit in London on day two of the state visit of China’s President Xi Jinping to the UK.

Designed to support China’s sustainable urbanisation and national green building programme, the £200 million research programme will involve the development of a number of sustainable demonstration projects in China, a pilot sustainable city demonstration in Danzhou, and a green building demonstration zone in Hainan province.

The programme will also include the development of green standards and improved processes for planning, design, procurement, construction and management of buildings, R & D on new green materials and low carbon products and technologies and a programme of post occupancy evaluation studies.

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Pictured left to right outside the Mansion House, London: Mr Hui Ka Yan, Chairman of Evergrande Group, Dr Peter Bonfield OBE, Chief Executive, BRE Group and Ms CHEN Xu, Chairperson, University Council, Tsinghua University

Chief Executive of BRE Dr Peter Bonfield said ‘Our Chinese partners have the ability to affect real change in the built environment. They currently deliver buildings, homes and communities on an unprecedented scale quickly and cost effectively. They will take the learning from this collaborative programme and deliver a sustainable built environment without compromising on cost and speed – something that hasn’t yet been done anywhere else in the world. We look forward to playing our part in what will be a transformative research partnership.’

Minister of State for Universities and Science Jo Johnson said ‘China is one of our most important international partners and at the last China-UK trade summit our Governments agreed to boost collaboration on science and technology. This project is a direct result of that commitment, and I look forward to seeing it progress.’

UK Special Envoy on Sustainable Urbanisation to China, Sir Michael Bear who witnessed the signing ceremony said ‘I am delighted to oversee this important collaboration that brings together three organisations who are leading in their fields to help China deliver its sustainable urbanisation programme.’

The research programme is one of a number of active collaborative projects that BRE has in China which follows on from the visit by Premier Li Keqiang’s visit to BRE headquarters in London in 2011 during which he requested BRE to support China’s sustainable urbanisation and green building programme.

For further information please contact Linda McKeown, BRE, email [email protected], mobile 07772228768.

NOTES TO EDITOR

BRE: We are a world leading building science centre and the authority on all aspects of the built environment. We generate new knowledge through research that is used to create products, tools and standards that drive positive change across the built environment. We enable our government and private sector clients to meet the environmental, social and economic challenges they face by delivering higher performing, better quality, safer, more secure and more sustainable products homes, buildings and communities. We are owned by the BRE Trust, a registered charity, which funds research and education that advances knowledge of the built environment.  We are committed to building a better world together. We are BRE. www.bre.co.uk

Tsinghua University is a research university and was established in 1911, originally under the name “Tsinghua Xuetang”. It has 19 schools and 55 departments with faculties in science, engineering, humanities, law, medicine, history, philosophy, economics, management, education and art. The University has now 43,112 students, including 15,408 undergraduates and 27,704 graduate students. As one of China’s most renowned universities, Tsinghua has become an important institution for fostering talent and scientific research. Tsinghua University has 123 research institutes approved by government, including 1 National Laboratory, 13 National Key Laboratories, 17 Key Laboratories of Ministry of Education, 7 National Engineering Laboratories, 1 Major Science and Technology Infrastructure Projects, 2 National Large-scale Scientific Instrument Centres, and 4 National Engineering research centres. With the spirit of “Actions Speak Louder than Words”, Tsinghua University is dedicated to the well-being of Chinese society and to world development. www.tsinghua.edu.cn/

Evergrande: With 540 billion Yuan worth of total asset and 80,000 employees, Evergrande Group is a conglomerate specialized in residential building, cultural tourism, FMCG, health industry and sport industry. The sales of the Group hit RMB 131.5 billion with tax payment of RMB 17.1 billion in 2014. In the first three quarters of 2015, its sales amounted to 128.7 billion yuan, with a full-year sales target of 150 billion yuan, and the Group is expected to be listed among top 500 enterprises worldwide. Over 400 large projects have been developed by Evergrande in over 170 major cities across China, and 25 subsidiaries (regional companies) have been founded by the Group in Guangdong, Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing, Shandong, Anhui, Shanxi, Henan, Liaoning, Hunan, Jiangxi, Hubei, Jiangsu, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Guangxi, Gansu, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Hainan, Inner Mongolia and Fujian.It owns an Architectural Engineering Company with China special qualification, Grade A Architectural Design Institute and Project Supervision Company, as well as Real Estate Development Company and Property Management Company with Qualification of Grade I. www.evergrande.com