China uses both market and policy tools when meeting the challenges of climate change, Finance Minister Jin Renqing said in Coolum, Australia on Friday.

Jin made the remarks when speaking with Chinese journalists here at the end of a two-day Asia Pacific finance ministers' meeting, where delegates showed great interest in China's role in fighting global climate change.

He said China is a major energy producer as well as a big energy consumer, adding more than 90 percent of the energy used in China is locally supplied.

The Chinese government is committed to energy efficiency and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, setting a target to cut per-unit GDP energy consumption by 20 percent by the end of 2010, he said.

Jin noted that China successfully lowered the energy consumption per 10,000 yuan (US$1,319) GDP by 47 percent during 1990-2005, equivalent to having cut emissions of greenhouse gas by 1.8 billion tons.

Meanwhile, a further 5-billion-ton reduction in carbon dioxide emissions was realized through afforestation and forest management during the period, he said.

"China, as a country of responsibility, has done her due contributions to the protection of global climate," he said.

He said the Chinese government is pursuing economic tools in tackling climate change, adopting measures like rationalizing prices of energy commodities and setting limits to unnecessary consumption of energy.

Meanwhile, all problems cannot be solved by market itself and the government must not sit on its hands, he said. The Chinese government has introduced a series of measures including taxation policies to encourage greater energy efficiency and the search for new energy.

While stressing reliance on domestic supply, China's energy strategy also highlights cooperation with other countries, he said.

Jin said that the largest share of historical and current global emissions of greenhouse gases has originated from developed countries, who should be held responsible for the climate change.

Therefore, developed countries' obligations and those of the developing countries in fighting climate change should not be mixed up, he said.

Jin called on the developed economies to enhance the transfer of fund and technology to assist developing economies in improving energy efficiency.

Jin said China's cooperation with the United States and the EU in this regard is already underway, while Japan has expressed its willingness to join in.

"China is now ready to accept or buy anything useful to her," he added. 

(Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2007)