China leads global climate change efforts to reduce emissions

China, with the aim to fulfill its commitment to the handling of global climate change, will gradually reduce and remove the subsidies to the development of new energy products by 2020 to enhance their competiveness in the market. "In confronting climate change, China, whether domestically or globally, has been playing a leading role. China's efforts have also been recognized and praised by others," said He Jiankun, vice chairman of National Experts Panel on Climate Change of China, on Tuesday at the UN Climate Change Conference in Katowice, Poland.

As Global Times writes in an article "Nation leads global climate change efforts to reduce emissions", China has been playing a leading role in reducing carbon dioxide emissions and has achieved much in the past years, showing its determination to contribute to the global ecology, officials said.

The international society looks to China's actions on carbon emissions, which are determined by China's status, He told the press at the China Pavilion. "A country's emissions quantity is one thing, but more importantly, more attention should be given to the country's contributions to confronting climate change, as well as its influence in the process," he said.

As of 2017, China had cut carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 46 percent from the 2005 level, fulfilling its commitment to reduce CO2 emissions by 40 to 45 percent from the 2005 level by 2020, the Xinhua News Agency reported in March.  As a rapidly developing country, He noted that while China's overall carbon emissions continue to increase, its emissions per GDP are declining, which means the economic benefits per CO2 unit are rising.

Meanwhile, the rate of decline in China is 4 percent, faster than many developed countries. He said that from 2015 to 2030, China will build new energy and renewable energy generators that would provide as much power as all types of US generators.

He told the Global Times that China supports and subsidizes new energy products where new technologies are developed. When subsidies are gradually decreased and removed by 2020, the cost of new energy could already be very low and competitive in the market.

When asked if China felt more pressure after the US abandoned the Paris Agreement, He told the Global Times that other countries expect China to take a greater leadership role.

The principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and capabilities has been recognized, He noted. "We will base our efforts on our development stage and do what we are capable of. While contributing to mankind, China is also promoting domestic sustainable development and will stick to our own principles."

Niklas Hagelberg, UN Climate Change Programme coordinator, said he is optimistic about China's work on reducing carbon emissions. "Even though China's emissions are that high, there's a large now interesting progress happening," he told the Global Times on Monday, citing the development of electric vehicles in China.

China is at the center of negotiations. China's progress can advance negotiations, he said. In his meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday, Li Ganjie, China's Minister of Ecology and Environment, said that China has actively participated in the multilateral process on climate change and has made the best efforts to deal with global climate change.