Spotlight: China plays responsible role in fighting climate change, promoting African development

Chinese President Xi Jinping's attendance at the Paris climate summit and his African trip have once again displayed China's firm commitment to the global climate campaign and helping promote Africa's development.

With "extreme resolution" and tangible actions, China today is standing as a responsible major power on the global stage in dealing with global challenges jointly with other countries and promoting common development of the whole world.

CONSTRUCTIVE PLAYER IN CLIMATE CAMPAIGN

At the opening ceremony of the ongoing Paris climate change conference, Xi reiterated China's pledge made in June to cut its carbon emissions per unit of the GDP by 60-65 percent from 2005 levels by 2030, and increase non-fossil fuel sources in primary energy consumption to about 20 percent and peak its carbon emissions by the same date.

"This requires strenuous efforts but we have confidence and resolve to fulfill our commitments," Xi said.

Although it is and will remain a developing country for a long time to come, China has been actively engaged in the global campaign on climate change, now topping the world in terms of energy conservation and utilization of new and renewable energies.

China will, on the basis of technological and institutional innovation, adopt new policy measures to improve the industrial mix, build low-carbon system, develop green building and low-carbon transportation and establish a nationwide carbon-emission trading market, according to Xi.

"As the largest developing country, China's efforts in climate change have 'spill-over' and 'model' effects globally," said Zhang Haibin, a professor with Peking University.

While taking bold actions and making progress on its own climate change fight, China has also taken an active part in international cooperation in climate change and provided assistance within its capabilities to other developing countries.

The country has inked a bunch of bilateral climate agreements with big emitters like the United States, France, India, Brazil and the European Union.

During Xi's state visit to the United States in September, China and the United States issued a second joint statement on climate change, following an agreement in November 2014, sending a strong signal that the top two economies in the world will join hands to tackle the global challenge.

In a joint China-France statement on climate change issued during French President Francois Hollande's visit to Beijing in early November, the two countries agreed to have a five-year review process to assess and strengthen national commitments to make sure that there won't be more than two degrees of global warming by the end of the century.

Over the years, China has earnestly fulfilled its policy commitments of South-South cooperation regarding climate change to support developing countries.

In September, Beijing announced the establishment of an independent South-South cooperation fund of 20 billion RMB (3.1 billion U.S. dollars) to help developing countries affected by global warming.

Peruvian Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar-Vidal said China, as an emerging economy, offered a concrete pledge to fight global warming, adding that the positive and generous step will benefit those developing countries in lack of funds.

At the Paris climate summit, Xi also pledged to launch cooperation projects next year to set up 10 pilot low-carbon industrial parks and start 100 mitigation and adaptation programs in other developing countries and provide them with 1,000 training opportunities on climate change.

"This shows China's consistent stance of supporting developing countries," said He Jiankun, a climate change expert of Tsinghua University.

STAUNCH SUPPORTER FOR AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT

During the second summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which concluded Saturday in Johannesburg, South Africa, Xi outlined a raft of measures to strengthen China-Africa ties and announced 10 major plans to boost bilateral win-win cooperation.

Xi also pledged to provide 60 billion U.S. dollars in financial assistance to Africa, including 10 billion dollars for a China-Africa production capacity cooperation fund.

Analysts believed the meeting has not only ushered the world's second-largest economy and the "most promising continent" into a new era of common development, but once testified to China's brotherly friendship and genuine partnership with Africa.

"China's strategies of development and cooperation have helped the (African) continent to create fairly rapid, visible and significant economic and social transformation," said Professor Gerishon Ikiara, an associate director at Kenya's Nairobi University's Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies.

He said the package of measures proposed by Xi revealed the new features of China's foreign policy on Africa and was set to be a vital driving force for the strengthening of bilateral pragmatic cooperation.

As a matter of fact, China has been providing great assistance for the African countries over the past 60 years, especially the sub-Saharan African countries, which are facing most difficulties in health, poverty relief and social stability.

Since 2012, China has provided African countries with loans worth over 20 billion U.S. dollars to support its infrastructure, investment, small and medium-sized enterprises, agriculture and manufacturing.

High-profile projects include the famous Tanzania-Zambia railway, the 200-million-U.S.-dollar African Union conference center and office complex in Ethiopia, as well as many stadiums, libraries and schools on the continent.

Besides urban infrastructure, China has also been offering help in areas such as education, health and stability. Since the outbreak of Ebola last year, China has delivered more than 117 million dollars worth of humanitarian aid and sent hundreds of medical workers to the front line in Ebola-stricken West Africa.

Bearing in mind the principle of "teaching one to fish is better than giving him a fish," the Chinese government has also carried out about 900 assistance programs in Africa.

During the meeting, Xi also said that China will train 200,000 technicians for African countries, and provide the continent with 40,000 training opportunities in China.

Meanwhile, Xi announced China will offer African students 2,000 education opportunities with degrees or diplomas and 30,000 government scholarships.

"Culturally, China and African countries are busy learning about each other. The announcement on the offer of scholarships will be a major boost to the cultural development in African countries," said professor Macharia Munene, an international relations lecturer at the United States International University in Nairobi, Kenya. Endi