Foreign and Military Affairs

China, EU set up dialogue on climate change

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-04-29 19:29

BEIJING - China and the European Union have established a ministerial-level mechanism of dialogue and cooperation on climate change, China's top economic planner announced Thursday.

The establishment of the mechanism came as a ministerial-level talk on climate change between top climate officials of China and EU was held in Beijing, said the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

The two sides would set up a ministerial level hotline to exchange views and share the latest developments on climate change, according to a joint statement issued after the end of the talk.

The talk was held between NDRC vice minister Xie Zhenhua and Connie Hedegaard, the EU Commissioner for Climate Action, during the European Commission's ongoing visit to China.

The two sides would also periodically hold ministerial talks on the topic, so as to strengthen cooperation and deepen mutual understanding on the issue, it said.

The talks would include negotiations between high level officials as well as working level discussions, said the statement.

"China and EU have noticed and appreciated each other's efforts to combat climate change, and would like to restate our support for the Copenhagen Accord and promote the political consensus reached in the accord," it said.

The two sides would work closely together under the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol, in a bid to achieve positive results and meaningful progress at December's climate summit in Cancun, Mexico, it said.