Summary of FHWA-China Cooperation

A Memorandum of Cooperation in Science and Technology in Transportation was signed in 2004 between the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Ministry of Communications (MOC) of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The Memorandum builds on the Agreement between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the United States of America on Cooperation in Science and Technology signed in 1979 and renewed in 2001.

Under this umbrella agreement, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) actively engaged in cooperative activities with the PRC during the 1990's, which included technical information exchange, hosting visiting Chinese delegations and facilitating the participation of Chinese delegates in FHWA training programs. In addition, the FHWA's National Highway Institute hosted several Chinese researchers for 1-year assignments as part of the FHWA's International Exchange Fellowship Program.

In April 2005, Administrator Peters led a high level U.S. transportation delegation to China. The trip was highly successful in achieving the objectives of improving professional relations and knowledge sharing with China's Ministry of Communications (MOC) and China's transportation sector. Specifically, FHWA and China's MOC formally identified the following five focus areas for collaboration, knowledge sharing and professional exchange: (1) highway safety; (2) pavement design; (3) environmentally sensitive highway design, including drainage and storm water management; (4) commercial vehicle size and weight regulation and enforcement and (5) asset management, life cycle cost analysis and public-private partnership strategies in construction, maintenance and operations.

In addition to the above, the FHWA has been collaborating with China's MOC in the areas of bridge engineering, pavements and highway safety.