A tale of two cities: Wuhan-Manchester clean energy push

Manchester once powered the world as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. Today, it is driving a very different transformation: the race toward carbon neutrality by 2038, one of the UK's most ambitious regional climate targets.

Wuhan – long known as central China's industrial engine and a major transportation hub – is undergoing its own reinvention. With fast-growing hydrogen, new-type storage and smart-manufacturing clusters, it aims to become one of China's leading clean-energy cities.

The two cities' shared story of industrial renewal forms the backdrop for the 2025 China–UK Clean Energy Cooperation Forum - now a signature event in bilateral city collaboration.

A united call for green partnership

To open the forum, Chinese Ambassador Zheng Zeguang sent a congratulatory letter underlining China's national climate commitment.

It read: "Maintaining energy security and addressing climate change are common challenges faced by the entire world. China has built the largest and fastest growing renewable energy system in the world."

Zheng noted that for the first time China has set an absolute emissions-reduction target for 2035 - a sign of what he described as "firm resolve and maximum effort."

China's Consul General in Manchester, Tang Rui, stressed that the two countries' ambitions remain highly aligned.

According to Tang: "The UK stands as one of the world's most important clean energy markets. The policy objectives of China and the UK are highly aligned with distinct strengths in their respective fields."

Manchester's leadership highlighted the depth and longevity of local cooperation. Councillor Tracey Rawlings told delegates the sister-city partnership between Manchester and Wuhan is widely seen as one of the best examples of China–UK city collaboration.

"We're very excited that next year will mark the 40th anniversary of that Sister City partnership with clean energy collaboration remaining an important pillar of that partnership," said Rawlings.

Hydrogen roots, expanding horizons

The Wuhan–Manchester partnership began in 2022, when the two cities signed a Memorandum of Understanding on hydrogen-industry cooperation. 

Since then, collaboration has expanded quickly. In December 2024, they signed the 2025 Action Plan, opening new cooperation in solar, wind, large-scale storage and university-industry innovation.

Representing Wuhan, Luo Lianfeng, Vice Chairman of the Wuhan CPPCC, said the forum has become a proven bridge for meaningful cooperation.

"Since its establishment in 2022, the forum has successfully been held three times, showing the broad space and huge potential for cooperation between the two cities," said Luo.

"We will promote industrial cooperation by strengthening mutual visits between clean-energy industry-chain enterprises in the two cities, expanding project collaboration, and facilitating the exchange of managerial and high-skilled talent. 

"On the basis of multi-channel industrial exchanges, both sides will make full use of their respective comparative advantages in the clean-energy sector to achieve synergistic benefits."

Geopolitical headwinds

China and the UK signed the Clean Energy Partnership in 2015, but the mechanism was largely suspended as bilateral ties cooled. Only in 2025 did the UK's Energy Minister Ed Miliband visit Beijing to restart formal clean-energy dialogue.

Yet, on the ground, cooperation has quietly continued.

Mark Shepherd, Low Carbon Lead at the Greater Manchester Inward Investment Agency, said geopolitics does not affect day-to-day collaboration.

"I don't see that [geopolitical tensions] on a day-to-day basis," said Shepherd. "Manchester is an open door. What I would suggest is for a Chinese company to open the dialogue with myself and my team here in Manchester and discover what the opportunities are."

Shepherd is already working closely with Chinese companies, including one bringing an advanced energy-storage solution to the UK.

"The flexible modular battery will be a first for the UK. It's definitely ahead of the market and it's really exciting," he said.

Expanding footprint

China is the world's largest manufacturer of clean-energy technologies, while the UK is a global centre for climate finance. In April, China issued its first sovereign green bonds in London - worth more than $820 million. 

Chinese energy firms are also expanding their footprint, including Mingyang Smart Energy's nearly $2 billion offshore-wind proposal in Scotland.

Business leaders say these strengths naturally align. Fang Wenjian, Head of the China Chamber of Commerce in the UK, put it succinctly. 

"Different timelines, different pathways, but absolutely the same destination," said Fang. "The global green transition is driving a new wave of investments, supply chains and technological breakthroughs. 

"Whether it's hydrogen, offshore wind, next generation batteries or smart mobility, cooperation between our two countries is not just beneficial, it is essential."