SHANGHAI, CHINA - (September 18, 2002) Yesterday, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA) and the Jiangsu Environmental Protection Department (Jiangsu EPD) signed a $207,000 technical assistance grant for environmental monitoring in the People's Republic of China. The U.S. Consul General in Shanghai, Mr. Doug Spelman, signed the grant on behalf of TDA, while Mr. Huang Yibin, the Executive Vice Director of the Foreign Affairs Office, signed for Jiangsu EPD. TDA's Regional Director for Asia, Mr. Geoffrey Jackson, was present to witness the ceremony.

The technical assistance is aimed at assisting Jiangsu EPD in reviewing and evaluating the province's existing air and water quality monitoring capabilities and framework, as well as evaluating equipment and technologies for upgrading the system. The opportunity to provide the technical assistance will be competitively bid among interested U.S. contractors.

By 2005, 70 automatic air quality monitoring substations and 2 mobile air quality monitoring stations will be set up in Jiangsu Province. These stations will provide real-time data acquisition, distant monitoring, and real-time transmission. At the same time, 50 automatic water quality monitoring stations and 3 mobile water quality monitoring stations will be established. In addition, an environmental information processing system will be developed and implemented. The system will include an environmental information control center and an environmental monitoring data transmission mechanism. The control center will receive peer-to-peer communication, collect data in a set timeframe and implement distant monitoring.

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency promotes American private sector participation in developing and middle-income countries, with special emphasis on economic sectors that represent significant U.S. export potential. By funding various forms of technical assistance, training grants, feasibility studies, conferences, orientation visits, and business workshops, TDA helps American businesses compete for infrastructure projects in emerging markets. In addition, the agency promotes capacity building initiatives and supports U.S. government trade, economic policy and development objectives around the world.

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