Xi's visits mark new era of global climate change campaign, China-Africa cooperation

BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the opening ceremony of the Paris Climate Conference from Nov 29 to Nov 30, pay state visits to Zimbabwe and South Africa from Dec 1 to Dec 5, and will also chair the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Johannesburg.

During his visits, Xi is expected to express China's proposals on countering climate change at the Paris conference and China's new initiatives to promote its comprehensive cooperation with Africa.

DIFFERENTIATED RESPONSIBILITIES ON CLIMATE CHANGE

China has called for the upcoming Paris Climate Conference to be realistic about the different capabilities and responsibilities among developed and developing countries, Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said at a press briefing on Wednesday.

China hopes the gathering of world leaders later this month will stick to the principles outlined in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Liu said.

To cope with climate change, China has pledged an "Intended Nationally Determined Contribution" (INDC) to cut carbon dioxide emissions per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by 60 to 65 percent from the 2005 level by 2030, according to a document submitted to the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change late June.

The world's second-largest economy intends to achieve its peaking of carbon dioxide emissions around 2030 and will do its best to peak early, according to the INDC.

China has also announced the setting up of a 20-billion-yuan South-South cooperation fund on climate change to help other developing countries.

China's Five-Year Plan from 2016 to 2020, aiming at a more sustainable and balanced way of development, seek to promote clean industrial production, low-carbon development and energy conservation to ensure sustainable growth in the next five years.

"Climate change is a global challenge at which no country can stand on their own. Developed and developing countries have different historical responsibilities for climate change, and different development needs and capabilities," Xi said in a written interview with Reuters in October.

"China is ready to play a constructive role and work for the timely conclusion of a comprehensive, balanced and strong agreement at the Paris conference," Xi said.

China will push for an agreement reached at the Paris Climate Conference, as it seeks to combine the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, climate change campaign with the target of sustainable development, so as to promote the transformation of China's economy and the world economy to the model of green and low-carbon development, said He Jiankun, China's leading climate change expert and head of Tsinghua University's Laboratory of Low Carbon Energy.