Helsinki - Leaders of China and the European Union (EU) attending the EU-China Summit on Saturday vowed to further strengthen their dialogue and cooperation on the issue of climate change and to promote further development of international climate change policies.

In a joint statement issued after the summit attended by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen of Finland, whose country holds the six-month EU presidency, and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, the two sides welcomed the progress on the implementation of the EU-China partnership on climate change, and vowed to work positively towards a rolling work plan to further implement the partnership, covering the period 2007-2010.

The statement welcomed closer cooperation by the two sides on the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism and the start of cooperation on the research of near-zero emission power generation technology through carbon dioxide capture and storage.

It also underlined the need to exploit the synergies between the promotion of energy security, sustainable energy supply, innovation and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to ensure consistency between meeting the ultimate objectives of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and energy policy goals.