Can cleantech China teach the West how to be green?

For Dr. Xingyi Xu, the grass used to be greener on the other side.

Chinese engineer Xu spent a decade developing electric vehicle systems for Ford Motor Co. in America. In 2002, he decided to return to China to develop electric vehicle systems of his own.

"There are many guys like me," said Xu, founder of Shanghai Kinway Technologies, a small start-up specializing in motors for electric cars and manufacturing equipment.