Mr. Erik Solheim, Norway's minister of the environment and international development, is visiting China this week.
The Chinese host for the delegation is the brand new Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP). In Beijing, mr. Solheim and his Chinese counterpart, Minister of Environmental protection mr. Zhou Shengxian, will sign a Memorandum of Understanding on environmental cooperation. This will be the new ministry's very first bilateral agreement.
Minister Solheim's program is very diverse. In addition to having political meetings, he will visit China Red Cross to learn about the relief work after the earthquake in Sichuan on May 12th, and he will meet with Chinese students studying Norwegian language.
From Beijing, mr. Solheim moves on to Shanxi, where he will visit a coal mine and learn about China's coal industry. Thursday, July 3rd, he will be in Guangzhou to open the new Norwegian Consulate General there.