China to continue to advance int'l climate cooperation: Xi

The Chinese government will continue to advance international cooperation on climate change and earnestly implement its policy commitment of South-South cooperation, Chinese President Xi Jinping said here Monday.

Xi made the remarks when delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the two-week Paris climate change talks, officially called the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

China announced in September the establishment of a 20-billion-yuan (about 3-billion-U.S. dollars) China South-South Climate Cooperation Fund to help other developing countries combat climate change.

The Chinese government earnestly implements its policy commitment of South-South cooperation regarding climate change, said Xi, noting the establishment of the fund.

Next year, China will launch cooperation projects for 10 low-carbon industrial parks, start more than 100 climate mitigation projects in other countries, and provide them with 1000 training opportunities for tackling climate change, according to Xi.

China will continue to advance international cooperation in such areas as clean energy, disaster prevention and reduction, ecological protection and climate-smart agriculture, and low-carbon and smart cities, he said.

China will also help other developing countries build up their financing capabilities for dealing with climate change, Xi added.

The highly-anticipated Paris climate conference, opened here by leaders from over 150 countries, aims to yield a new international agreement to reduce greenhouse gases beyond 2020 when the 1997 Kyoto Protocol expires.

Such an accord is seen as crucial for keeping the rise in global temperatures within 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times, a goal scientists say should be met to avoid risky changes in the climate. Endi