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China and Russia is accelerating the joint research and development of new technologies in new energy sector as part of the greater collaboration framework in the China-Russia Year of Scientific and Technological Innovation. Experts said that the cooperation in new energy is just one part of a bigger project for providing the world with more China-Russia solutions in new technologies against the backdrop of the US unilateral moves on decoupling from China in technology development.

This came after the news suggesting Chinese and Russian researchers are developing new materials to make cheap hydrogen batteries, which unlike conventional batteries, are more efficient and environmentally friendly, discharging only water or water vapor into the environment during use, the Science and Technology Daily reported on Tuesday.

The Chinese and Russian researchers involved in the development are from Beijing University of Chemical Technology and Samara National Research University. The Chinese researchers are responsible for theoretical calculations, conducting a series of experiments and making anion exchange membranes for fuel cells and Russian researchers are focusing on developing high-performance non-platinum catalysts and testing their performance, the report said.

"China's new energy market is the world's largest and the urban management in new energy vehicle is also seeing rapid development, providing many possibilities for the future development and application of new technologies," said Xiang Ligang, a veteran industry analyst.

Hydrogen energy as one alternative of the new energy is pollution-free and is expected to be cheaper in the future, Xiang said, noting that its safety and stability problems also need to be tackled during the research in order to put it into market as new energy battery for vehicles.

In addition to new energy battery, China and Russia may find more cooperation opportunities in areas such as armament and aircraft manufacturing and information technology where both sides can learn and grow, said Xiang.

Although the Year of Scientific and Technological Innovation just started in late August, both sides have already begun fruitful activities in the collaboration on science and technologies.

With concerted efforts from both countries, the number of activities scheduled to be held under the Year of Scientific and Technological Innovation has exceeded 1,000, which shows the huge potential of the two sides' cooperation on scientific and technological innovation, Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan said at an opening ceremony for the Year of Scientific and Technological Innovation between China and Russia on August 26, Xinhua News Agency reported on August 27.

"China needs to walk on many legs and find more reliable partners in the world, which is also a necessary step to reduce its dependence on the US for technology," said Xiang.