"IISD has established long-term partnerships with two outstanding organizations to advance practical sustainability. The CCICED and the DRC each provide a wealth of experience and local expertise that will assist IISD's work on issues like development indicators and air pollution," said IISD President Scott Vaughan, who travelled to Beijing to sign the agreements.

Founded in 1992 as a non-profit, high-level body, the CCICED has conducted policy research, provided advice to the Chinese government and facilitated international exchanges on environment and development issues. IISD and CCICED will work in partnership in several areas including ecological indicators, water resources management and green investment. The agreement was signed at the CCICED Annual General Meeting (Nov. 13-15 in Beijing), which focused on "Environment and Society for Green Development."

The DRC is an advisory body for the Chinese central government on issues of economic policy and social development. IIISD and DRC's Institute for Resources and Environmental Policy Study will cooperate in research and information exchange on issues such as freshwater management, shale gas extraction and air pollution management.

The signing of memoranda builds on the recent announcement of Dr. Michael Zhao as the IISD China representative, and IISD's establishment of its first permanent Beijing office in 2013.

For more information about IISD's research programs and events in China, please visit: http://www.iisd.org/China/. For more information on the organizations and the MOUs in Chinese, please visit the CCICED and DRC online.

IISD contact: Joel Trenaman, director of communications and publishing, at jtrenaman@iisd.ca.