China's emission now equals that of the US

Beijing, Oct 29 (PTI) China, dubbed as the "factory of
the world," Wednesday said its emissions almost equalled that
of the U.S., the world's biggest emitter of carbon dioxide,
the greenhouse gas blamed for the bulk of global warming.

China's emissions of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse
gas from fossil fuel burning, accounted for eight percent of
the world total from 1904 to 2004.

"According to our data, China's current total emissions
are almost as the same as that of the United States," Xie
Zhenhua, vice director of the National Development and
Reform Commission (N.D.R.C.) Xie told reporters here while
explaining a government white paper on climate change.

"Whether or not we have surpassed the U.S. in emissions
is in itself not important. We should look at the issue fairly
and from a historic view," he was quoted as saying by Xinhua
news agency.

"If our total emissions were at the same level, the per
capita emissions in China, home to a population of 1.3
billion, would be one-fifth of that of the U.S.," he said.

In addition, some 20 percent of China's greenhouse gas
emissions resulted from the production of its exports to
developed countries as it is the "factory of the world".

China has acknowledged that it was difficult to control
greenhouse gas emissions because of its industrialisation
process and its coal-dominated energy mix.

Xie said the country was in the process of
industrialisation and urbanisation when emissions were usually
high, a natural rule experienced by rich nations earlier.

"To advance further towards its development objective,
China will strive for a rational growth of energy demand," the
white paper said.

"The coal-dominated energy mix cannot be substantially
changed in the near future, thus making the control of
greenhouse gas emissions rather difficult," it said.

"The Chinese government pays high attention to the
issue of climate change," Xie said.

In the white paper, China demanded that developed
countries should spend at least 0.7 percent of their Gross
Domestic Product and transfer technologies to developing
nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

China has set targets on energy conservation and
pollution reduction to achieve a sustainable growth. Measures
designed to meet the targets include closures of out-dated
production facilities, use of energy efficient equipment and
clean energy.

"China has taken substantial efforts to mitigate
carbon emissions and achieved marked progress. The momentum
will be maintained in the future," He Jiankun, director of
laboratory of low carbon energy at Qinghua University in
Beijing.

In 2004, China released for the first time data on
greenhouse gas emissions in 1994. The government was
currently working on the latest data, he said, without
elaborating.