Washington (Platts)--30Oct2009/320 am EDT/720 GMT

Wind power companies, including many American and European firms, are likely to find it easier to enter the growing Chinese market as part of an agreement top US and Chinese officials reached Thursday.

US Trade Representative Ron Kirk, on a four-day trip to China, and other Obama administration officials reached the agreement with Vice Premier Wang Qishan at the 20th annual US-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade.

The agreement would "remove local content requirements on wind turbines" which effectively means China has dropped its policy of installing only Chinese technology and would now open its markets to international firms.

"China's renewable energy market is expected to reach $100 billion by 2020, and wind energy is its fastest growing sector," Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said in a statement.

President Barack Obama will visit China in November "We hope this progress builds a solid foundation for President Obama's visit in November," Locke added.

The agreement also includes initiatives such as dropping barriers on US pork exports to China, and protecting intellectual property rights for software, medical devices and pharmaceuticals. The deal was signed in the eastern city of Hangzhou.

Analysts said the agreement was a major boon for international wind turbine manufacturers, which are mostly based in the US and Europe.

China's wind generation capacity stands at just above 12,000 MW. A late July report from the state-run China State Grid Corp. estimated that wind capacity could reach 150,000 MW by 2020.

--Alexander Duncan, alexander_duncan@platts.com