President Xi Jinping will attend the Paris climate conference next week, it was announced on Wednesday as a top diplomat here said the Chinese leader will bring no new concessions to the negotiating table.
Xi Jinping will attend the climate conference in Paris from November 29-30 at French President Francois Hollande’s invitation, a statement said.
Xi will be present at the conference which is expected to be attended by top world leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to work out a durable deal to reduce the greenhouse gases which are blamed for global warming.
Ahead of the Paris meet, China, which is the top emitter of greenhouse gases along with th US, has hoped that “a powerful, ambitious and legally binding deal” can be reached in Paris. Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin told a briefing that world leaders will be in attendance in France “to lend political impetus” to the meeting but “are not there for negotiations”.
“The Paris conference is not about tabling new proposals -- it’s about narrowing differences and reaching agreement on the basis of the existing proposals,” he added. Xie Zhenhua, China’s special representative on climate change, told the media here last week that 2015 deal should reflect the principles of “common but differentiated responsibilities (CDR)” and “respective capabilities”.