U.S. Ambassador Max Sieben Baucus led a delegation to the Clean Energy Automotive Institute of Hefei University of Technology on April 8.

Liu Xiaoping, Vice President of HFUT, expressed warm welcome to the delegation. He briefly introduced the university and its cooperation program with Ohio State University (OSU) on electric vehicle, environmental protection and energy conservation.

Mr. Baucus delivered his appreciation for the warm welcome of HFUT and expressed his determination to bring more US students to study at HFUT.

He then visited JEE Automation Equipment Co., Ltd. , the high-tech R&D and production base of HFUT. Professor Lin Juguang, Vice Director of the Clean Energy Automotive Institute and General Manager of JEE introduced the R&D of the hybrid transmission to Mr. Baucus. The ambassador was very impressed when he heard that all of the assembly and testing lines of the transmission were independently developed by HFUT.

Mr. Baucusalso had a test drive of iEV6S – the battery electric vehicle jointly developed by HFUT and JAC Motors. He lauded the test drive experience and spoke highly of the achievements made by HFUT in clean energy vehicle R&D. He also expressed his wish to see greater breakthrough made by HFUT in this field.

The HFUT-OSU cooperation program was under the green partnership established between China and the US in 2012. Building upon the rich resources from the Center for Automotive Research of OSU and Clean Energy Automotive Institute of HFUT, the program has been developing and applying electric vehicle technology. The delegation led by Ambassador Baucus will inject new vitality to this joint research program.

Also in the delegation are James Brown, Attache of the US Embassy, Philip Chamberlain, Assistant to Ambassador, and Hanscom Smith, Consul-General of US in Shanghai. Li Changlin, Deputy Director of Anhui Foreign Affairs Office, and other staff from the University Affairs Department, International Affairs Department and the Clean Energy Automotive Institute of HFUT also accompanied the visit.

Mr. Baucus also met officials from Anhui Provincial Government and Party Committee during his stay in Hefei. HFUT President Liang Liang attended the meetings.