US Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and Energy Secretary Steven Chu returned from China last July with a sober understanding of the degree to which China had advanced in green technology. Sino-US clean energy cooperation reached a milestone later in 2009, when the two presidents signed various bilateral agreements, including the establishment of the US- China Clean Energy Research Centre in Beijing to improve research and development in the field. But clean energy was caught in the political firestorm of the health care debacle. As the recent New York Times article on China's advancements in green technology reinforced, the Chinese have made exceptional progress in this field and are the leaders of our green revolution.

But more than a desire to compete with the rest of the world, China is looking for collaboration with foreign powers like the United States. In the few weeks I spent in Shanghai speaking with various individuals in academia and renewable – mainly solar – energy, I discovered that expats of various professional backgrounds and nationalities have become ensconced into the Chinese green economy. Solar, more so than other energy sources – hydro, wind, nuclear, biomass – has attracted not only high-salaried expats to serve as executives for Chinese companies, but also eager entrepreneurs who presciently identified the market potential in China during the financial crisis.

As the reality of China's prowess continues to worry some and impress all, we may have to embrace China as a centripetal force in green energy and find our point entry for further collaboration in the coming years. What needs to be understood is that China's energy goals are simple: to secure energy supplies for its burgeoning population while trying to ease the carbon emissions. And to realize this goal, the country has a strategic interest in collaboration, rather than competition, with the rest of the world.