Chinese vice premier to attend Paris climate accord ceremony

Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli will attend the Paris climate agreement signing ceremony on April 22 as Chinese President Xi Jinping's special envoy, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang on Wednesday.

Zhang will sign the climate agreement on behalf of China at the signing ceremony, which will be held at the UN headquarters in New York, said Lu at a regular press briefing.

Zhang is visiting at the invitation of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Adopted by the 196 Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Paris Agreement sets a target to keep the global average temperature rise to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and preferably below 1.5 degrees.

On the basis of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, developed countries agreed to raise 100 billion U.S. dollars a year by 2020 to help developing countries transform their economies, according to the agreement. Endi