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.
