China vows emissions cutting efforts ahead of Doha conference

BEIJING, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- China reiterated on Wednesday that it is resolute in reducing emissions and working to see its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions peak at an earlier date.

China will never follow the development mode of developed countries, whose emissions usually peaked when their per capita gross domestic product (GDP) stood at nearly 40,000 to 50,000 U.S. dollars, Xie Zhenhua, China's chief negotiator to the UN climate change talks, said upon the release of a government report addressing climate change.

Xie explained that a country's emissions will increase in tandem with economic growth, but when emissions peak, the level will remain stable for a time and then begin to drop, like an inverted "U."

China's emissions are at the climbing stage, said Xie.

It's unfair and unreasonable to hold China to absolute cuts in emissions at the present stage, when its per capita GDP stands at just 5,000 U.S. dollars, Xie said.

However, through efforts, China is likely to see emissions peak at a time when the country's per capita GDP is half that of developed countries when they saw emissions peak, said Xie, who is also deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

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