BEIJING, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- China launched a state-owned Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) fund Friday to finance the country's efforts to address climate change.

    The China CDM Fund, managed by the Ministry of Finance, will generate money from the current CDM projects that help China improve energy efficiency and protection of the environment by using clean energy for power generation.

    By the end of October, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner, had approved 885 CDM projects that were expected to supply 1.5 billion metric tons of carbon credits, said Xie Zhenhua, NDRC deputy director.

    He added the projects would generate 15 billion U.S. dollars, of which three billion U.S. dollars would be injected into the fund.

    The fund also receives donations from financial institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

    Established under the Kyoto Protocol, CDM is a market-based mechanism that allows developed countries to fulfill their greenhouse gas emission reduction obligations by investing in clean energy projects in developing countries such as China.