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Hu attends UN climate change summit

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-09-22 21:55

UNITED NATIONS: Chinese President Hu Jintao joined other world leaders Tuesday in New York for a UN climate change summit, which is designed to mobilize the political will needed to reach a deal at the UN climate change talks in Copenhagen this December.

Invited by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, President Hu will address the opening session of the summit meeting, Chinese foreign ministry officials said.

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During the meeting, President Hu will "call for stronger international efforts on climate change and introduce new measures that China is taking, " China's Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei told a press briefing on September 15.

The president "will fully elaborate China's stance and proposals on climate change and what China is doing about it," he said.

The vice minister expressed the hope that "the summit would send a positive signal," emphasizing joint efforts to make the Copenhagen conference a success.

Tuesday's summit is convening just 10 weeks before world leaders gather in Copenhagen in December to negotiate and try to seal a treaty on climate change after the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.

The summit aims to advance the negotiations, however, it is not a negotiating session itself. It provides a forum where leaders can discuss fundamental issues, find common ground and provide guidance to their negotiators.

"The objective of the Summit on climate change, which I am convening on September 22, is to mobilize the political will and vision needed to reach an ambitious agreed outcome based on science at the UN climate change talks in Copenhagen," said Ban Ki-moon, secretary general of the United Nations, in a note to heads of states and governments regarding the summit.

"I hope that cooperation between and among developed and developing countries can be strengthened, and that the political impetus for a successful deal in Copenhagen will be made manifestly clear to all participants," he said.