UK and China Discuss Clean Energy Cooperation in Manchester 2026

Key Points

• The 2026 UK-China Clean Energy Cooperation Forum was held in Manchester on Tuesday, November 10, 2026.
• Approximately 150 people attended, including government officials, green growth business people, and experts from China and the UK.
• Issues such as cooperation in the field of energy security, transition to clean energy, energy markets reform, and energy storage were discussed at the event.
• Rui Tang, the Chinese Consul General in Manchester, said geopolitical uncertainty has led to rising energy prices and additional strain on households.
• As David Houliston, a representative of the Manchester City Council said, the cost of living crisis remains a key political issue, and Chinese goods along with cooperation are already making an impact.
• Policy analyst Rebecca Hiscott emphasized that Chinese investment in the manufacture of clean energy technologies provides opportunities for collaboration between manufacturers, policymakers, and recyclers.
• In addition, specialists highlighted that bilateral collaboration can contribute to stabilizing the global supply chain and environmental protection.
• The forum initially was organized as the UK-China Hydrogen Energy Cooperation Forum, renamed in 2024, being held annually since then.
• According to Xinhua News Agency, the 2026 forum was jointly hosted by China Chamber of Commerce in the UK, Manchester Chinese Chinatown Business Association and the Northern England Chinese Enterprises Association.
• As reported by the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Manchester, participants discussed the issues of green city development and clean energy cooperation, formulating several preliminary cooperation intentions.
• The forum was held at The Edwardian Manchester Hotel, according to the Eventbrite event page.

Manchester (Manchester Mirror) November 12, 2026 — The 2026 UK-China Clean Energy Cooperation Forum was held in Manchester, bringing together about 150 government officials, business representatives from the green-development sector and experts from China and the United Kingdom to discuss practical cooperation in the low-carbon economy.

As reported by Bastille Post, participants said there was substantial potential for deeper China-Britain cooperation in energy security and transition, electricity-market reform and energy storage. The forum was held on Tuesday, 10 November, at The Edwardian Manchester Hotel on Peter Street, according to the event’s public listing.

The event brought together representatives from both countries’ public and private sectors. According to the Chinese Consulate General in Manchester, attendees included Manchester City Council Deputy Leader Cllr Bev Craig? — the consulate named “罗林斯” as deputy leader an official from the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Wuhan Municipal Foreign Affairs Office Deputy Director Li Jun, China Chamber of Commerce in the UK Vice-President Yang Yamei, and business and academic representatives from both countries.

What did the forum aim to achieve?

The forum was designed to explore opportunities for collaboration between the United Kingdom and China in the global transition towards a low-carbon economy. Its public event listing said the programme included strategic partnership signing ceremonies, business networking and matchmaking sessions.

According to Xinhua, the forum was jointly organised by the China Chamber of Commerce in the UK, the Manchester Chinese Chinatown Business Association and the Northern England Chinese Enterprises Association. The news agency reported that participants discussed green-city development and clean-energy cooperation, and that the event produced a number of preliminary cooperation intentions.

The Chinese Consulate General in Manchester said Chinese Consul General Tang Rui attended the forum and expressed hope that participants would use it to reach practical outcomes in areas including electric vehicles and photovoltaic energy storage.

Why was energy affordability central?

Energy costs and household pressure featured prominently in the discussion. As reported by Bastille Post, Tang said geopolitical uncertainty had driven energy prices higher in Britain, placing “huge pressure” on ordinary people in daily life.

“Internationally, the uncertainty brought by geopolitical dynamics has driven energy prices very high in Britain, putting huge pressure on ordinary people in their daily life,” Tang said, according to Bastille Post. “Looking at China’s development, our new energy sector is growing very fast. At present, China-Britain cooperation in clean energy is truly timely.”

David Houliston, an official from Manchester City Council, said the cost-of-living crisis remained a real political priority for the British Government and for Manchester City Council. He said changes in recent years, including Chinese brands entering the market, were already playing a role alongside products such as solar equipment, batteries and other energy-storage innovation, as well as industrial collaboration.

“The cost of living crisis has been going on for some years now, and it’s a priority for national government,” Houliston said, as quoted by Bastille Post. “It’s also, for Manchester City Council, who I work for, a real political priority.”

What cooperation areas were discussed?

Participants identified several areas where China and Britain could deepen cooperation. According to Bastille Post, these included energy security and transition, electricity-market reform and energy storage.

Rebecca Hiscott, a policy analyst, said China’s investment in clean-energy manufacturing opened broad opportunities for collaboration. She said cooperation could involve manufacturers, policymakers and recyclers working together to build sustainable products, strengthen global supply chains and reduce environmental impact.

“China has invested so much in clean energy manufacturing, and I think that definitely presents a lot of opportunities for collaboration,” Hiscott said, according to Bastille Post. “There is potential for a lot of collaboration, especially between manufacturers, policymakers and also recyclers, to collaborate to build sustainable products, to make the global supply chain stronger, to make it more resilient, and just to reduce the impact on the environment.”

Experts at the forum said China’s substantial investment in the clean-energy sector created opportunities for bilateral cooperation. They also said collaboration between the two countries could have a positive effect on the stability of global supply chains and environmental protection, Bastille Post reported.

What did Chinese officials say?

Tang described China’s clean-energy sector as fast-growing and positioned China-Britain cooperation as timely. The Chinese Consulate General in Manchester separately reported that Tang said China possessed the world’s largest, most complete and most competitive clean-energy industrial chain, while Britain was an important clean-technology market.

According to the Chinese Consulate General in Manchester and China News Service, Tang hoped the forum would help participants achieve practical results in electric vehicles, photovoltaics and energy storage. The consulate said attendees considered the two countries’ clean-energy policy goals to be aligned and saw major potential for cooperation.

China News Service reported that the forum provided an important platform for businesses from both countries to connect. It said representatives discussed green-city development and clean-energy cooperation and reached a batch of preliminary cooperation intentions.

How does the forum fit Manchester-Wuhan ties?

The forum is connected to the long-standing relationship between Manchester and Wuhan. The Wuhan municipal government has described the UK-China Clean Energy Cooperation Forum as a joint initiative that uses the two cities’ strengths in low-carbon industries and advanced manufacturing to support environmentally friendly development.

Manchester and Wuhan became sister cities in 1986. In May 2026, the Wuhan government reported that the two cities marked the 40th anniversary of that relationship and pledged to deepen practical cooperation.

The clean-energy forum was also part of that broader programme of exchanges. Houliston told the Wuhan government’s English-language site that the anniversary programme had been designed as an eight-month series rather than a single commemorative week, beginning with a cultural event and ending in November with a clean-energy-focused event.

What is the forum’s history?

The event was originally launched as the UK-China Hydrogen Energy Cooperation Forum. According to Bastille Post, it was renamed the UK-China Clean Energy Cooperation Forum in 2024 and has been held annually since then.

Xinhua gave further detail, reporting that the forum’s predecessor was first held in 2022 as the China-UK Hydrogen Energy Cooperation Forum. It said the event changed its name in 2024 and has been held annually since.

The 2026 edition was held on 10 November at The Edwardian Manchester Hotel. The event listing said it ran from 11:00 to 16:00 and was intended to bring together government leaders, city representatives, businesses, universities and industry organisations from both countries.

Was the forum linked to wider global cooperation?

The Bastille Post report also carried coverage of the ninth Paris Peace Forum, which took place in Paris from Tuesday to Wednesday. That separate event called for stronger multilateral cooperation on security, climate, technology and development.

The Paris Peace Forum was held under the theme “From sovereignty to cooperation” and gathered more than 350 speakers across more than 80 discussion sessions, according to Bastille Post. Its agenda covered peace and geopolitics, the planet, development and emerging technologies, while organisers also held a “Child Summit” focused on children’s welfare.

In a video address at the opening session, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres described sovereignty as a core principle of the UN Charter while saying cooperation remained essential for countries to protect their sovereignty. Bastille Post reported that he called for a networked, multipolar world grounded in international law.

Cui Hongjian, a professor at the Academy of Regional and Global Governance at Beijing Foreign Studies University, warned against rising unilateralism. He said countries needed to strengthen their ability to protect and defend sovereignty, but that stronger sovereignty should not conflict with international cooperation.

The Paris forum also emphasised cooperation on critical mineral resources. Experts said countries of the Global South needed a stronger voice and better protection of their interests in international resource cooperation, and called for more open and inclusive mechanisms to help them participate in global industrial and supply chains.

Cui said China had made substantial policy, financial and industrial investments over the years in strengthening trade and industrial cooperation with other Global South countries and in promoting green and digital transformation.

The Paris Peace Forum was launched in 2018 as an international platform for states, international organisations and non-governmental actors to advance solutions to global governance challenges.

Background of the development

The UK-China Clean Energy Cooperation Forum emerged from earlier cooperation between Manchester and Wuhan, two cities that have maintained a sister-city relationship since 1986. The event began with a focus on hydrogen energy in 2022, before being renamed in 2024 to reflect a broader clean-energy agenda covering areas such as solar power, batteries, electric vehicles and energy storage.

The 2026 forum took place during the 40th anniversary of the Manchester-Wuhan sister-city relationship. Wuhan’s municipal government has described the forum as an institutionalised cooperation initiative intended to combine the two cities’ industrial and technological strengths in support of low-carbon development.

The event also reflects wider policy interest in energy affordability and supply-chain resilience. British participants linked clean-energy technology, including solar equipment and battery storage, to efforts to address the cost-of-living crisis, while Chinese representatives highlighted China’s clean-energy manufacturing capacity and Britain’s role as a clean-technology market.

Prediction: how may this affect businesses and households?

For UK businesses, the forum may create further commercial opportunities in clean-energy manufacturing, solar equipment, batteries, electric vehicles, recycling and energy-storage services. The event’s stated focus on partnership signing, networking and matchmaking suggests that participating firms may use it to identify suppliers, customers and research partners across the two markets.

For households in Manchester and across the United Kingdom, closer cooperation could eventually affect the availability and cost of clean-energy products such as solar panels, batteries and electric-vehicle technology. However, the reported outcomes were preliminary cooperation intentions rather than confirmed projects, prices or policy commitments, so any impact on household energy bills cannot yet be measured.

For policymakers, the discussions may support future work on electricity-market reform, energy security and supply-chain resilience. The forum’s emphasis on collaboration among manufacturers, policymakers and recyclers also points to potential future attention on sustainable product design, recycling and the environmental footprint of clean-energy supply chains.