China uses both market and policy tools when meeting the
challenges of climate change, Finance Minister Jin Renqing said in Coolum, Australia on
Friday.
Jin made the remarks when speaking with Chinese journalists here
at the end of a two-day Asia Pacific finance ministers' meeting,
where delegates showed great interest in China's role in fighting
global climate change.
He said China is a major energy producer as well as a big energy
consumer, adding more than 90 percent of the energy used in China
is locally supplied.
The Chinese government is committed to energy efficiency and
reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, setting a target to cut
per-unit GDP energy consumption by 20 percent by the end of 2010,
he said.
Jin noted that China successfully lowered the energy consumption
per 10,000 yuan (US$1,319) GDP by 47 percent during 1990-2005,
equivalent to having cut emissions of greenhouse gas by 1.8 billion
tons.
Meanwhile, a further 5-billion-ton reduction in carbon dioxide
emissions was realized through afforestation and forest management
during the period, he said.
"China, as a country of responsibility, has done her due
contributions to the protection of global climate," he said.
He said the Chinese government is pursuing economic tools in
tackling climate change, adopting measures like rationalizing
prices of energy commodities and setting limits to unnecessary
consumption of energy.
Meanwhile, all problems cannot be solved by market itself and
the government must not sit on its hands, he said. The Chinese
government has introduced a series of measures including taxation
policies to encourage greater energy efficiency and the search for
new energy.
While stressing reliance on domestic supply, China's energy
strategy also highlights cooperation with other countries, he
said.
Jin said that the largest share of historical and current global
emissions of greenhouse gases has originated from developed
countries, who should be held responsible for the climate
change.
Therefore, developed countries' obligations and those of the
developing countries in fighting climate change should not be mixed
up, he said.
Jin called on the developed economies to enhance the transfer of
fund and technology to assist developing economies in improving
energy efficiency.
Jin said China's cooperation with the United States and the EU
in this regard is already underway, while Japan has expressed its
willingness to join in.
"China is now ready to accept or buy anything useful to her," he
added.?
(Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2007)
