China will earnestly fulfill its commitment to the international
community to curb global warming as the country seeks sustainable
development, said Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing in Beijing Tuesday.
"China, as one of the developing countries suffering from
climate change, pays great attention to this issue," said Li at a
press conference held on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People's
Congress (NPC), China's top legislature.
The international community has already formulated the United
Nations (UN) Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto
Protocol, which established the fundamental principles for
developed and developing countries in coping with climate change,
including the fundamental principle of "common but differentiated
responsibility,” according to Li.
China has set a target to put the emissions of greenhouse gases
under control and reduce energy consumption for per unit GDP by 20
percent during the 2006-2010 period.
"This will be China's contribution to resolving the issue of
global climate change," said Li.
As a new measure to reach this goal, Chinese Vice Premier Zeng
Peiyan announced on January 29 that China will close and suspend
small power generating units with a total annual capacity of 50
million kilowatts in four years.
"At present, China's per capita carbon dioxide emissions from
fossil fuel burning is less than one sixth than that of some big
countries. The emissions are partly caused by the relocation of
international industries along with economic globalization," said
the foreign minister.
At the opening of the NPC session on Monday, Chinese Premier Wen
Jiabao said the government will meet the energy saving and
pollution control targets between 2006 and 2010 despite last year's
setback.
China's energy consumption per unit of GDP in 2006 went down 1.2
percent, and oxygen chemical demand and sulfur dioxide emission
rose 1.2 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively, falling short of
the targets set at the beginning of last year to cut energy
consumption per unit GDP by 4 percent and discharge of major
pollutants by 2 percent.
(Xinhua News Agency March 7, 2007)
