China calls for stepped up climate cooperation with EU

(BEIJING) - China called on the European Union Tuesday to step up cooperation on climate change, saying global warming would be at the top of the agenda at next week's China-EU summit.

"Soon after the summit the international community will have the Copenhagen conference on climate change," Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun said, referring to the meeting in Denmark to agree a new UN pact on global warming.

"China and (the) EU should strengthen coordination and have closer cooperation on climate change because it serves the common interest of both sides and will help advance international efforts to tackle climate change."

Zhang said such cooperation would be discussed at next Monday's summit in the eastern city of Nanjing, when the two sides will also focus on the international financial crisis and China-EU relations.

Widely viewed as the world's top emitter of greenhouse gases, China has refused to commit to binding gas reductions at the Copenhagen talks, nor has it agreed to set a date for when its gas emissions reach their peak.

Meanwhile, China has called on developed nations to acknowledge their historic role in global warming and urged them to make significant emissions cuts and provide developing nations with environmentally-friendly technology.

The EU has already vowed to reduce its emissions by 20 percent from 1990 levels before 2020, raising the target to 30 percent in the event of an international agreement on the issue, while Japan has offered 25 percent cuts.

The United States, the world's second largest emitter, has yet to set limits but Washington is expected to announce a target for reducing its greenhouse gas emissions before the UN climate conference.