US, China agreement on carbon cuts

Beijing: Striking a deal on carbon cuts, the US and China Wednesday announced ambitious goals, pledging joint efforts to tackle climate change in 15 years.

In a joint announcement issued after US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jingping held talks in Beijing, the two sides announced their respective post-2020 goals of coping with climate change.

The US intends to achieve "an economy-wide target of reducing its emissions by 26 to 28 percent below its 2005 level in 2025" and to make best efforts to reduce its emissions by 28 percent, Xinhua quoted the announcement as saying.

China intends to achieve the peaking of carbon dioxide emissions around 2030 and increase the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to around 20 percent by 2030.

Both countries will also jointly push international climate change negotiations for the adoption of a protocol at the UN Climate Conference in Paris next year.

China and the US will also step up cooperation in the fields of clean energy and environmental protection, said the announcement.

According to the Guardian, the US and China unveiled a secretly negotiated deal in a move towards reducing their greenhouse gas output, with China agreeing to cap emissions and the US committing to deep reductions by 2025.

The pledges, made in an agreement struck between the two presidents, provide an important boost to international efforts to reach a global deal on reducing emissions beyond 2020 at a UN meet to be held in Paris next year.

China has agreed to cap its output by 2030 or earlier if possible. It has also promised to increase its use of energy from zero-emission sources to 20 percent by 2030, the report added.

The US has pledged to cut its emissions to 26-28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.

Earlier in the day, the Chinese president held talks with Obama, underscoring their commitment to build a new type of major-country relations between the world's two largest economies, Xinhua reported.

"China would like to work with the United States to implement the principle of no conflict, no confrontation, mutual respect, cooperation and common prosperity and make new type of major-country relations between the two countries to produce more benefits to people in the two countries and the world," Xi said.

"I will make joint efforts with President Obama," he added.

The talks were held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, following a red-carpet ceremony to welcome Obama in the morning.

Stating that this year marked the 35th anniversary of China-US relations' establishment, Xi said bilateral relations now stand at a new starting point.

"Facing the current complicated and changing international situation, China and the United States should and will be able to cooperate in more areas," Xi said.

Obama said the trade ties and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries have surged over the past 35 years. "We have shown that when we cooperate, United States and China can make important contributions to security and prosperity in the region and around the world."