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We present results from the first 6 years of this major U.K. government funded project to accelerate and enhance collaborative research and development in climate science, forge a strong strategic partnership between U.K. and Chinese climate scientists, and demonstrate new climate services developed in partnership. The development of novel climate services is described in the context of new modeling and prediction capability, enhanced understanding of climate variability and change, and improved observational datasets. Selected highlights are presented from over 300 peer reviewed studies generated jointly by U.K. and Chinese scientists within this project. We illustrate new observational datasets for Asia and enhanced capability through training workshops on the attribution of climate extremes to anthropogenic forcing. Joint studies on the dynamics and predictability of climate have identified new opportunities for skillful predictions of important aspects of Chinese climate such as East Asian summer monsoon rainfall. In addition, the development of improved modeling capability has led to profound changes in model computer codes and climate model configurations, with demonstrable increases in performance. We also describe the successes and difficulties in bridging the gap between fundamental climate research and the development of novel real-time climate services. Participation of dozens of institutes through subprojects in this program, which is governed by the Met Office Hadley Centre, the China Meteorological Administration, and the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, is creating an important legacy for future collaboration in climate science and services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The skill and reliability of forecasts of winter and summer temperature, wind speed, and irradiance over China are assessed using the Met Office Global Seasonal Forecast System, version 5 (GloSea5). Skill in such forecasts is important for the future development of seasonal climate services for the energy sector, allowing better estimates of forthcoming demand and renewable electricity supply. It was found that, although overall the skill from the direct model output is patchy, some high-skill regions of interest to the energy sector can be identified. In particular, winter mean wind speed is skillfully forecast around the coast of the South China Sea, related to skillful forecasts of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. Such information could improve seasonal estimates of offshore wind-power generation. In a similar way, forecasts of winter irradiance have good skill in eastern central China, with possible use for solar-power estimation. Skill in predicting summer temperatures, which derives from an upward trend, is shown over much of China. The region around Beijing, however, retains this skill even when detrended. This temperature skill could be helpful in managing summer energy demand. While both the strengths and limitations of the results presented here will need to be considered when developing seasonal climate services in the future, the outlook for such service development in China is promising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]