Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony of Paris climate change conference on Nov. 30. This is the first time that the head of state in China attends the climate change conference, whose full name is the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP 21) and the 11st Conference of Parities on Kyoto Protocol.
The principle of a "common but differentiated responsibility" should be highlighted in the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in December, a stand that China has insisted on, said a commentary by Xie Zhenhua, China's special representative for climate change.
China's determination to tackle climate change could speed a shift in its development pattern from an energy and resources-intensive model, according to a senior United Nations official.
President Xi Jinping and his Brazilian counterpart Dilma Rousseff met Monday on the sidelines of the ongoing Paris climate talks, agreeing to strengthen cooperation in a number of areas including global warming.
A decline in coal use, due to the economic slowdown, may warm the hearts of environmentalists, but the sector that produces the traditional heat source may be feeling the chill.
Use of coal may be falling in China, but it remains a major energy source and pollutant.
President Xi Jinping's attendance at the climate change conference in Paris demonstrates China's proactive approach to its role on the global stage, said Bernard Dewit, chairman of the Belgian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce since 1996.
China firmly supports French efforts in hosting the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris, President Xi Jinping told his French counterpart Francois Hollande on Sunday.
Paris is known as the City of Light and commuters over the past year will have noticed that railway and metro stations there have become much brighter.
"The Paris conference is not the finishing line, but a new starting point, as an important part of global governance."
China has made impressive efforts in combating climate change, according to the head of the European Parliament's China delegation.