KIEV — China and Ukraine have agreed to step up their cooperation in renewable energy, the Ukrainian government said on Nov 17.

The agreement was reached during the plenary meeting of the Chinese-Ukrainian Subcommittee on Trade and Economic Cooperation in Beijing, the Ukrainian government press service said in a statement.

According to the statement, Ukraine, which heavily relies on imported energy, sees a great potential in its renewable energy cooperation with China.

“China is the world leader in renewable energy capacity expansion. It influences the global trends of the clean energy development,” the statement said.

In particular, Ukraine is interested in implementing joint investment projects with China, establishing joint factories for the production of equipment and materials for renewable energy facilities, and creating financing mechanisms for clean energy projects, the statement said.

This year, the Ukrainian government has developed the country’s “Energy Strategy,” setting the target to increase the share of the renewables in the energy mix to 25 percent by 2035 from the current 4 percent.