Xie Zhenhua, vice director of China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the chief economic planning agency, will attend two international meetings later this month, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said here Tuesday.

Xie is scheduled to attend the G8 environment ministers' meeting in Italy on April 22 and a preparatory session for the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate in Washington on April 27 and 28.

The major economies include Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and the United States.

Denmark, which will host a UN climate change meeting in December, and the United Nations were also invited.

Jiang said the environment ministers' meeting would discuss the issues of climate change and biological diversity, while the preparatory session in Washington would lay the groundwork for the leaders' meeting.

"Positive efforts should be made during the G8 Environment Ministers' meeting and the preparatory session for successful climate change negotiations in December in Copenhagen," said Jiang, adding that these two meetings could not replace the process of negotiations within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

"These meetings are platforms for conducting communication, strengthening cooperation and building up mutual trust rather than occasions for concrete negotiations on climate change," Jiang stressed.

"We hope these meetings could send out positive political signals within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change."

(Xinhua News Agency April 21, 2009)