In the year 2000, the Ministry of the Environment and Territory (IMET) launched a co-operation program with the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) of China. The program, financed by the Ministry for the Environment and Territory and co-financed by the Chinese Government and several Municipalities, consists of the implementation of pilot projects and feasibility studies for the development of scientific and commercial projects on environmental protection, including ecological conservation, air quality improvement, and sustainable agriculture development. In the following years, the Cooperation has been enlarged to the Ministry of Science & Technology of China in the perspective of implementing Clean Development Mechanism projects.

China signed the Stockholm Convention in May 2001 and is in the process of ratifying the Agreement. As per requirements of the Convention, China has begun to develop a National Implementation Plan (NIP) for POPs and to undertake enabling activities. To enhance its domestic capacity to meet obligations arising from the Convention, China is working with a range of bilateral partners including the Government of Italy, and with various intergovernmental organizations.
In this respect, the Italian Ministry for Environment and Territory together with SEPA has launched a broad cooperation program directed to the development of the following pilot projects in selected areas aimed at the improvement of air quality and control:
1. Air Quality Monitoring Systems
2. Urban Sustainable Mobility
3. Technology Transfer for the construction of low capacity boilers fed with diesel oil
4. Urban Energy Plans for a Sustainable Environment
5. Strengthening Technology and Capacity of Sustainable Agriculture
6. Control and phase out of POPs

Governments:
Government of China - The State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA)
Government of Italy - Ministry of the Environment and Territory

Major Groups:
Academy of Preventive Medicine (China)
Chemical Registration Center (China)
China Academy of Agriculture Sciences (China)
China Academy of Social Sciences (China)
China Agriculture University (China)
China Architecture Design & Research Group (CAG) (China)
China Energy Research Society (China)
China National Monitoring Station (China)
China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association (China)
China Research Academy of Environmental Sciences (China)
Chinese boiler manufacturers (China)
Hangzhou DADI Environmental Protection Co., Ltd. (China)
InnerMongolia Autonomous Region (China)
Institute for Pesticides Control of Agriculture (China)
Institute for the Control of Agrochemicals (China)
Institute of Tianjin Geothermal Exploration (China)
Municipalities of Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Jinan, Taiyuan and Tianjin (China)
Municipality of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (China)
National Termite Prevention and Control (China)
Ningxia CDM Service Centre (China)
Ningxia Province (China)
Peking University, Center for Environmental Sciences (China)
Shanghai Environmental Protection Industry Association (China)
State Economic and Trade Commission (China)
Tianjin Aode Energy Engineering & Technology Ltd. (China)
Tsinghua University (China)
Zhejiiang University (China)
CETMA Consortium- D¿Appolonia s.p.a. (Italy)
Centre of Competence for the Innovation in the Agro-Environmental Sector (AGROINNOVA) of the University of Turin (Italy)
Consorzio G.A.I.A., Colleferro (Rome) (Italy)
ENEL Green Power SpA (Italy)
ENI Tecnologie (Italy)
Ecotema Ecologia Terra Mare s.r.l. (Italy)
IMPREGILO SpA (Italy)
IVECO, CR-FIAT (Italy)
Italian National Research Council - Institute for air pollution (CNR - IIA) (Italy)
Italian boiler manufacturers (Italy)
Novamont ¿ Mater.Bi S.p.A., Novara, Italy (Italy)
Pirelli & C. Ambiente Tecnologie S.p.A. (Italy)
Regional Center for Agricultural Experimentation and Extension of the Chamber of Commerce of Savona (Italy)
Sartec Saras Tecnologie s.r.l (Italy)

UN System:
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) (Austria)
United Nations Development Program (UNDP) (United States of America)
United Nations Office for Projects Services (UNOPS) (United States of America)
World Bank (WB) (United States of America)