The launch ceremony for the Hammarby eco-city project was held in Yantai, East China's Shandong Province on Tuesday, targeting sustainable development. 

The Swedish trade commission and companies have formed an alliance to work together to build the eco-city project, using a model in Stockholm, to transfer sustainable investing and realize sustainable development.

The project is 100 percent funded by the Swedish Pension Agency, said Jesper Jos Olsson, group CEO and founding partner of White Peak, the company building the Yantai eco-city. 

GNP and carbon dioxide emissions have a positive correlation, Jonas Tornblom, chief executive in Sweden of White Peak, said at the launch ceremony. "By introducing an eco-model to build the smart city, we can decouple emissions from economic growth, which is green economic growth."

"Urbanization is a megatrend. Bringing Swedish sustainable solutions to China is essential to ensure global ecological security," said David Hallgren, Swedish trade commissioner in China. 

The initiative of Hammarby Sjostad (Hammarby lake city) in Stockholm came from the aim of applying for the 2004 Olympic Games. Although Sweden lost the bid, the local government decided to implement the plan of building a smart eco-city.

The Hammarby area was originally an abandoned, polluted industrial site. After years of effort, a new community was built with low energy consumption, high recycling and coexistence with the natural environment. Waste is thoroughly transformed into biofuel, which helps reduce heat and water consumption. 

"Yantai has great potential. I see a parallel between Yantai and Sweden's harbor city Malmo, another example of the Hammarby model, of a huge industrial site turning into an eco-city," said Anna Hessle of Sweco International AB, the designer of Stockholm's Hammarby Sjostad eco-city.

The eco-city in Yantai will follow the same energy-saving standards and technology as implemented in Sweden. Eventually in the Yantai eco-city, 90 percent of district heating and 52 percent of total energy consumption will be renewable. Also, 99 percent of household waste will be recycled, either as material or as energy, Hessle told Global Times on Tuesday.