China and the United States of America agreed to collaborate on developing electric and hybrid vehicles in a significant boost to the "green programmes" expected to reshape the automobile industry.

The agreement, signed between China's Ministry of Science and Technology and the US Department of Energy, will see the two countries collaborate on battery performance, testing and evaluation methods, standards and codes, and lifecycle analyses, according to David Rodgers, deputy assistant secretary of the US Department of Energy.

The Sino-US collaboration could benefit some Chinese companies such as Chana, BYD, SAIC, etc, which have been aggressively developing green autos.