Inside Firestone

Firestone Hosts Dinner for China Energy Fund Committee Delegates

Chauto Chan, president of Huaxin Energy and the China Energy Fund Committee, along with five other CEFC delegates visited Firestone on April 25, 2012, when Firestone Mayor Chad Auer and Town of Firestone staff hosted a dinner for the Chinese delegates at Saddleback Golf Club in Firestone.

Huaxin and the CEFC have a strong interest in securing U.S. technology partners to help extract Chinese shale gas, which measures more than 885 trillion cubic feet. However, the country lacks the technology to move forward with the extraction. The CEFC is also looking to arrange gas purchases from the United States for Chinese consumption.

“I am convinced that U.S. and China relations will be the most consequential of the 21st century,” Auer said, who serves on the executive committee of the Metro Mayors Caucus. “However, the future of these relationships will not be decided in Washington, D.C. or Beijing. They will be determined in U.S. and China communities.”

With the help of a Chinese interpreter, Chan spoke about the many opportunities he sees for the CEFC and the United States to work together. The CEFC has completed the opening of its New York office, and is seriously considering an office in the Western United States.

Auer believes that Firestone, Weld County and Colorado must be participants, not spectators, in forging this critical relationship. In a recent column Auer wrote, he said, “Experts have told us that there are huge oil and gas reserves in the Rocky Mountain west, specifically here in Northern Colorado. It is imperative that we responsibly develop these resources in conjunction with renewable sources to meet the energy demands of our country and beyond.”

During their visit to Colorado, the Chinese delegates meet with key gas, oil and energy representatives to explore opportunities for opening a Colorado office. Before visiting Firestone, they discussed technology and shale gas extraction with the Unconventional Natural Gas and Oil Institute at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden. The group also spoke with representatives from the International Research Center for Energy and Economic Development, as well as the Colorado Department of Natural Resources.

Chan spoke of the CEFC’s mission statement, which encompasses three areas to sustainable energy development: the substitution of cleaner alternative energy for traditional energy; renewable energy for fossil fuels; and plentiful energy sources for scarce ones.

Along with Chan, other Chinese delegates in attendance included: Martin Wu Zhang, director of New York office, CEFC; Yuehua Shi, vice director of New York office, CEFC; Zhao Mao, vice director of New York office, CEFC; Jianzhong Zhuang, director of Shanghai office, CEFC; and Ning Long, Secretary, CEFC.

After the dinner, Auer presented Certificates of Cooperation to the CEFC delegates as a way to say thank you and to look forward to great collaboration between our countries.  Auer believes that the new relationships built between the China Energy Fund Committee and Firestone, Weld County and Colorado will be part of the solution in building United States and China relations.

The Chinese delegation also presented the Town of Firestone with a 23-foot-long red and gold paper cutting is recreated based on a painting called Qing Ming Shang He Tu (Along the River during Qingming Festival). The painting is one of the most renowned and valuable paintings in China.

The dinner included representatives from Colorado gas, oil and energy industries, the Denver-Hainan Corporation, Firestone Board of Trustees and staff, Carbon Valley Chamber of Commerce, Weld County Commissioners, Frederick-Firestone Fire Protection District and more.

Firestone Town Manager Wesley LaVanchy met with the Chinese delegation on April 26, in Denver as they completed their Colorado visit. “Their promise to continue building relationships, cooperating on energy exploration and increasing exports of thermo coal in the first step of what is expected to be a long-term relationship,” he said.

View the Photos from the Chinese Delegation Visit

Longmont Times-Call Story: Chinese energy delegates visit Colorado, Firestone to talk natural gas