China’s Tsinghua University and Brazil’s Federal University of Rio de Janeiro have renewed their co-operation on research into climate change and energy technologies, Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua reported on Thursday.

In 2009, both universities set up the China-Brazil Center for Climate Change and Innovative Energy Technologies, with a branch of the centre on each campus. Since then the initiative has done research into solar energy technologies, the development of buses using hybrid power sources, and on the deep-water extraction of oil.

“The intention of the centre is to help Brazilians and Chinese to identify mutually beneficial projects,” said Liu Dehua, the centre’s director in China, in comments to Xinhua.

This year the universities’ research interests have expanded to include electrically powered cars, energy planning and tidal energy, the news agency said.

The Brazilian Government told Xinhua in a statement the centre has encouraged academic exchanges between engineers and students in the two nations and enabled scientists to collaborate on different projects.