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| China's Premier Li Keqiang speaks during a media conference during an EU-China Summit at the European Council building in Brussels on Monday, June 29, 2015. (AP Photo / Virginia Mayo) |
BRUSSELS - China seeks a fair, global system to tackle climate change and will deliver its pledge to the United Nations by the end of Tuesday on how much it will cut emissions, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said after talks with top European Union officials.
Once China, the world's biggest emitter, has submitted its so-called Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) ahead of UN climate talks in Paris late this year, pledges submitted will cover more than half the world's emissions.
"We will make strenuous efforts to address climate change," Li said in Brussels. "By the end of this month, the Chinese side will submit to the UN secretariat on climate change our Intended Nationally Determined Contribution plan."
According to a statement issued after Li met EU leaders in Belgium, China and EU agreed to promote cooperation on climate change and developing a cost-effective, low-carbon economy while maintaining robust economic growth.
According to the statement, China and the EU are committed to working together to reach an "ambitious and legally binding agreement" at the Paris Climate Conference in 2015 which aims to enhance the implementation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, based on equity and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.
Speaking at a conference in Brussels, Li said the EU and China must "step up their cooperation ... to establish a fair, reasonable, win-win global climate governance system."
Li also welcomed EU participation in China's urbanization process, especially in smart city building and energy efficiency.
At a forum on the China-EU urbanization partnership in Brussels, Li said industrialization and urbanization were "twins" of modernization.
By 2020, 100 million Chinese migrant farm workers are to settle down in cities; 100 million farmers will be encouraged to move to nearby cities in central and western China; 100 million people will have better living conditions in cities through reconstruction of run-down areas and unsafe buildings, said the premier.
"This will stimulate consumption and investment, which will create momentum for China's growth and modernization and provide new opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Europe."
Also on Monday, Xie Zhenhua, China's special representative on climate change, addressed a high-level UN panel in New York. He said China was a developing country but had an "inherent need for sustainable development".
China's pledge is expected to be a promise that its emissions will peak "around 2030", which officials and analysts said it can easily achieve.
