Vol. 1 No 1/2 : ( 2002 ) : pp. 56-81

Cleaner coal technology (CCT) offers a solution to China's increasingly severe air pollution problems, but technology transfer and diffusion pose many challenges. This paper examines a Japanese programme, carried out under the Green Aid Plan of Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), to transfer CCT to China. The programme has been successful in engaging policy makers in environmental dialogue and demonstrating the technical feasibility of some Japanese CCT in China. But the programme has also encountered project delays and uncertain markets, and it has not yet led to diffusion of the technologies in China. The lack of diffusion highlights a gap that currently exists between the demonstration of technical feasibility and the widespread adoption and operation of CCT by Chinese enterprises. Current programme efforts are aimed at bridging this gap by giving greater attention to economic feasibility and technology diffusion mechanisms.