WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Cementing its fifth climate partnership while in China, California and Shanghai are teaming up to fight the climate crisis by cleaning up ports and reducing emissions from the transportation sector.
SHANGHAI – Governor Gavin Newsom ended his weeklong trip to China in Shanghai on Sunday by launching a new climate partnership with the city and touring Tesla’s Shanghai gigafactory – one of the most productive electric vehicle (EV) plants in the world.
The Governor started the day meeting with Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng and other city officials. California and Shanghai signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on protecting the environment, combating climate change, advancing climate adaptation and resilience strategies and accelerating clean transportation action. The text of the MOU is here.
Downloadable high-res photos are available here.
Shanghai is home to nearly 25 million people and ranks third in the world by population. It is a global shipping hub and Shanghai and Los Angeles collaborate on a green shipping corridor together. California’s partnership with Shanghai will focus on clean ports and green shipping, as well as clean transportation and climate adaptation.
“California’s partnership with Shanghai spans decades – back to 1980 when the late, great Senator Dianne Feinstein, then San Francisco’s Mayor, forged the San Francisco-Shanghai Sister City relationship — the first such relationship between cities in China and the United States. This is a city I have visited many times, and each time I return, I am struck by the progress and transformation I see.
California is proud to build on this tremendous partnership with Shanghai to accelerate climate action – cleaning up our ports, cutting emissions from shipping and speeding up our transition to electric vehicles.”
Governor Gavin Newsom
The Governor then visited Tesla’s Shanghai gigafactory where he and the California delegation toured its general assembly line, as well as a battery pack facility. The plant produces thousands of vehicles every week, and just last month Tesla announced it produced 2 million EVs there, making it one of the most productive EV factories in the world.
Last week, the Governor announced California is set to distribute $40.5 million in federal funding to build 270 EV fast chargers at 26 sites along highways. Funded by President Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the state is expected to receive more than $380 million to create 6,600 miles of EV corridors, with at least four fast chargers every 50 miles.
Also last week, Governor Newsom announced the state surpassed its zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) truck sales goal two years ahead of schedule – a big milestone to phasing out traditional combustion big rigs that account for over a quarter of the state’s on-road greenhouse gas emissions.
The Governor ended his last day in China at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport where he met with United Airlines leaders to celebrate the airline resuming daily flights between San Francisco and Beijing next month and recently increasing flights between San Francisco and Shanghai. Last week, during his meetings with President Xi Jinping and high-level Chinese officials, Governor Newsom discussed efforts to boost the recovery of tourism between California and China, and the need for increased flights.
Governor Newsom is scheduled to return to California Sunday evening.
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