On the 12th of April 2023, the first Western International Carbon Neutral Technology Achievements Expo and Entrepreneur Summit Forum (referred to as the "Western Carbon Expo") opened in Chongqing. The event was guided by the Chongqing Municipal Government, hosted by the Chongqing Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment, co-organised by the International Green Economy Association (hereinafter referred to as "Green Association"), Liu Yanhua, chief expert of the Green Association, honorary director of the National Climate Change Expert Committee, former vice minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology, and Deng Jihai, legal representative and executive chairman of the Green Association, and other delegations from the Green Association were invited to attend.

The conference set up 5 theme exhibition areas and 5 high-end forums and other activities. The first Western Carbon Expo showcased more than 100 enterprises from Chongqing Environmental Investment, Zero Carbon Future, and Chengdu CNBM. Gao Xiang, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and dean of the Institute of Carbon Neutrality of Zhejiang University, Jiang Jianchun, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Pan Jiahua, member of the Faculty of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and director of the Center for Sustainable Development, Lu Xinming, deputy director of the Department of Climate Change of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Lv Xuedu, former chief climate officer of the Asian Development Bank, and other well-known experts in the industry, and more than 600 representative enterprises attended the forum.

Liu Yanhua, Chief Expert of the Green Association and former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology, delivered a keynote speech on "Green Innovation and Competition" at the keynote forum. Liu Yanhua said that green innovation should make breakthroughs in five aspects: total volume, cost, availability, sustainability and intelligence. Under the background of the international pattern in which more than two-thirds of the world's economies are promoting the goal of carbon neutrality, compared with traditional "tangible resources" such as land, minerals and water, "intangible resources" such as green technology, emission space allocation and management, and digital technology are becoming more and more important in green competition, and are at the high end of value chain allocation, with high allocation values and voice in the market.

Yu Guodong, director of the Chongqing Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment, reported on "Chongqing's exploration on the road to carbon peak and carbon neutrality". Yu Guodong pointed out that Chongqing will deepen and upgrade the three major projects of green co-construction project, green empowerment project and green finance project, focus on anchoring the strategic goal of "dual carbon", in-depth fight against pollution, and synergy goal of pollution reduction and carbon reduction, and promote Chongqing to make new contributions and achieve new development in the field of "dual carbon".

At the "Green and Low-carbon New Technology and New Product Development Forum" of the Carbon Expo, Gao Xiang, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and dean of the Institute of Carbon Neutrality of Zhejiang University, Du Yungui, chief expert of the State Power Investment Group Yuanda Environmental Protection Co., Ltd., and Chai Qimin, director of the Strategic Planning Department of the National Climate Strategy Centre, respectively delivered professional theme reports on "Green and Low-carbon Frontier and Innovative Development", "Carbon Capture and Utilisation Technology in the Process of Low Energy and Low-carbon", and "Prospects for the Development of New Technologies and New Industries under the Global Carbon Neutrality Process". 

Deng Jihai, Executive Chairman of the Green Association, made a keynote speech at the forum, Deng Jihai said that the "dual carbon" goal has deeply driven the development model and format of various industries, and the development of new technologies and new products should take the new model of each industry under the "dual carbon" goal as the path, and at the same time, strengthen the new business format with measures such as industrial chain supply chain and industry-university-research co-construction. The new model and new industrial trend of "dual carbon" is the core foundation for the development of green and low-carbon new technologies and new products.

The Carbon Expo also held parallel forums such as "Development and Prospect of Carbon Trading Market", "Green Finance and Climate Investment and Financing", and "Development of Western 'Carbon Pool'".