BEIJING, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- China hopes the United States will rejoin the Paris climate agreement and contribute to the global agenda on fighting climate change, a senior envoy said Tuesday.
"China is willing to step up cooperation with the United States in climate change negotiations after the United States said it will stay in the talks although it has withdrawn from the accord," China's Special Representative on Climate Change Xie Zhenhua told a press conference.
"China has made it clear that it is willing to enhance cooperation with the United States in the areas of clean energy utilization, energy and resource conservation, carbon capture and storage, as well as other research and development," he said.
The Paris Agreement, agreed on by almost every country in the world in 2015, aims to tackle climate change by cutting greenhouse gas emissions and sets a global target of keeping the average temperature rise no higher than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
U.S. President Donald Trump said in June that he had decided to pull the United States out of this landmark global pact.
Xie made the remarks ahead of the 23rd UN Climate Change Conference to be held in Bonn, Germany from Nov. 6 to 17, at which a guideline for the implementation of the Paris Agreement will be defined.
Speaking on expectations for the upcoming conference, Xie said China hoped participants can reach a draft guideline reflecting the needs of all parties and all the key elements in the agreement.
The draft guideline could lay a foundation for all parties to complete the negotiations on the implementation details of the agreement in 2018, he said.
Xie also underlined the necessity of making reviews of the implementation of countries' pledges on tackling climate change before 2020.
At the conference, developed countries need to work out a timetable on fulfilling their promise to provide developing countries with funding and technology worth 100 billion U.S. dollars every year leading up to 2020, Xie said.
"It will enable countries to build political trust and enhance confidence in the international community in fulfilling obligations and honoring commitment," he said.
China signed the Paris Agreement in April 2016, giving a strong push to international efforts against global warming.
German authorities expect 25,000 guests to attend the Bonn conference, including representatives of governments and non-governmental organizations, and 1,500 journalists.
Speaking on China's stance on climate change, Xie said the country remains committed to its pledge by taking on obligations that match its development stage, due responsibilities and actual capabilities.
Over the past 10 years, while maintaining economic growth, China also cut emissions of 4.1 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide, he noted.
Last year, the country cut its carbon intensity, the measure of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP, by 6.6 percent, surpassing its goal of 3.9 percent.
In the first three quarters this year, the carbon intensity dropped by around four percent, said Li Gao, an official with the climate change department of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
In 2016, China's energy consumption per unit of GDP fell five percent. In the first three quarters of 2017, it declined 3.8 percent year on year. The share of the coal use in the country's total energy consumption has fallen by more than three percentage points since 2016, he said.
The government has promised to reduce its carbon intensity by 18 percent, and to increase the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to 15 percent, by 2020 from 2016.
Discussing the progress of carbon trading schemes in China, Li said the country will establish a national carbon trading market this year.
Since 2011 when pilot programs were started, more than 20 industries and nearly 3,000 emitters have been involved in the scheme. By the end of September this year, China had traded a total of 197 million tonnes of carbon dioxide with a value of 4.5 billion yuan (678 million U.S. dollars).
China will steadily move the program forward with market-based approach and fair and open principles, he said.
