Source: Xinhuanet

Xinhuanet Helsinki, June 26 (Reporter Ming Jinwei) On the morning of the 26th, local time, Li Keqiang, Vice Premier of the State Council of China, visited KONE Corporation, Finland.

When he listened to the introduction by Matti Alahuhta, President and CEO of KONE, Li Keqiang showed clear interest in KONE’s energy-efficient, environment-friendly elevator technology.

In the conference room located on the top floor of KONE Building, Matti Alahuhta made introduction to Li Keqiang and his party with computer slides. Mr. Alahuhta said that since the 1990s, KONE has been a pioneer in environmental protection and energy conservation in the elevator industry. KONE planned to use the energy consumption at the beginning of 2008 as a benchmark to reduce its energy consumption of elevators by 30% in 2009 to 50% by 2010!

Such significant energy-saving efficiency immediately caused Li Keqiang's attention. He asked Alahuhta how KONE could achieve such high efficiency and energy saving, and whether their elevator used high-efficiency motor.

After Mr. Alahuhta heard these words, his face showed a smile of admiration. He quickly moved to the next slide, titled "How to make our elevator energy efficient". It turned out that through technological innovation, KONE introduced a complete set of solutions for high-efficiency and energy-saving elevators, including the use of a permanent-magnet disc motor. This alone has saves energy by 50% compared to conventional gear-driven motors. In addition, KONE has adopted other technologies to recycle the energy consumed by elevators and developed a standby energy-saving mode for elevators.

Mr. Alahoda’s introduction raised Li Keqiang’s greater interest. He also put forward a series of questions on improving the energy efficiency and energy-saving technologies of the motor. Mr. Alahodah answered the questions one by one.

During Li Keqiang's visit to Finland, an important item in the agenda was to discuss the Sino-Finnish cooperation in high-tech, energy-saving and environmental protection technologies. He emphasized many times that the economies of China and Finland are highly complementary. Finland has advanced technology and China has a huge market. On the afternoon of the 25th, local time, the governments and enterprises of China and Finland signed a series of cooperation agreements or memoranda of understanding, including the Chinese side's purchase of energy-saving and environmental protection technologies. At noon on the 26th, Li Keqiang delivered a speech at the welcome luncheon hosted by the Finnish business community. He once again mentioned that Sino-Finnish cooperation in new energy, energy conservation and environmental protection has great potential.

The current international financial crisis is still not over, which has brought severe challenges to the economies of all countries in the world. However, the crisis also gave birth to opportunities. The process of coping with the financial crisis is also an opportune time for realizing industrial restructuring, accelerating the development of new energy, energy-saving and environmental protection industries, and circular economy. If we can establish a foothold in the face of the crisis, focus on long-term, small-scale enterprises, and large-scale countries, it will undoubtedly lay a solid foundation for sustainable development.

During the interview in Finland, I was deeply impressed by the beautiful environment and innovative spirit of the Nordic country. It is no wonder that Finland has repeatedly been rated as the most suitable country for human habitation in the world. For China, absorbing and drawing lessons from Finland's "Green" development experience is of great significance.

Prior to this visit, Vice Premier Li Keqiang had just participated the National Energy Conservation Awareness Week and a symposium on energy conservation work in Luoyang, Henan Province. At the meeting, he proposed that we should adhere to the basic national policy of resource conservation and environmental protection, and take energy saving and emission reduction and building ecological civilization as an important task in responding to the international financial crisis and promoting stable and rapid economic development.

Coincidentally, on the "2009 High-tech Finland" brochure provided by Finland to me, Finnish President Tarja Halonen also stated that the healthy development of the international economy requires the concerted efforts of all countries in the world and the sharing of successful experiences. Today's situation highlights the importance of a healthy and sustainable economic structure to the crisis.

In fact, Li Keqiang's emphasis on the "Green" development experience of Finland also shows the Chinese government's determination to achieve sustainable development. It is believed that with the joint efforts of China and Finland in the future, the two parties will join hands in pursuing the "green" development path will be wider and wider.

Xinhua News Agency Reporter Li Xueren