China says it will follow its own path to cut carbon emissions, even as US climate envoy John Kerry called for faster action to confront the climate crisis in a high-profile visit to Beijing.
President Xi Jinping says China is unwavering in its commitment to reach a carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060.
The Chinese President says the path, method, pace and intensity to achieve this goal should and must be determined by China, and will never be influenced by others.
The comments came as Mr. Kerry met China's Premier Li Qiang and top diplomat Wang Yi, with Washington and Beijing – the world's two largest polluters – resuming their long-stalled climate talks amid scorching heat waves across much of the globe.
In the meeting with Mr. Li, Mr. Kerry stressed the need for China to decarbonize the power sector, cut methane emissions, and reduce deforestation.
China has invested heavily in clean energy in recent years with its solar capacity now greater than the rest of the world combined, and the country is also leading the world in wind capacity and electric vehicles.
But it has accelerated the approval of new coal plants due to a renewed focus on "energy security", sparking concerns from environmentalists that these new projects will make the shift away from coal slower and more difficult.
