Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on Friday China had recorded the world's fastest growth in the adoption of new energy and renewable energy and the largest area of man-made forests.

Wen made the remarks in his speech, "Build Consensus and Strengthen Cooperation to Advance the Historical Process of Combating Climate Change", at the opening session of the final summit segment of the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen.

"On the basis of protecting the eco-environment, we have developed hydro power in an orderly way, actively developed nuclear power, and encouraged and supported the development of renewable energy including biomass, solar and geothermal energy and wind power in the countryside, remote areas and other places with the right conditions," Wen said.

Between 2005 and 2008, renewable energy in China increased by 51 percent, representing an annual growth rate of 14.7 percent and in 2008, the use of renewable energy reached an equivalent of 250 million tons of standard coal, the Chinese premier said in his speech.

He said a total of 30.5 million rural households gained access to bio-gas, equivalent to a reduction of 49 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

China ranked first in the world in terms of installed hydro power capacity, nuclear power capacity under constructon, the coverage of solar water heating panels and photovoltaic power capacity, Wen said.

In addition, China had continued with "the largest-scale endeavor to return farmland to forest and expand afforestation, and made vigorous efforts to increase the forest carbon sink," the Chinese premier said.

Between 2003 and 2008, China's forest coverage registered a net increase of 20.54 million hectares and forest stock volume rose by 1.123 billion cubic meters. The total area of man-made forests in China had reached 54 million hectares, the largest in the world, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency December 18, 2009)