China will reduce CO2 emissions from 2050

China's carbon emissions will start falling by 2050, its top climate change policymaker has told the Financial Times, the first time the world's largest emitter has given such a timeframe.

Whether China will agree to some kind of cap on its emissions is a critical question ahead of global climate change talks in Copenhagen in December. Beijing argues, as do most developing countries, that it is the developed nations that should take responsibility for cutting emissions first, since global warming originated as a result of their industrialization.

The comments by Su Wei, the director-general of the climate change department at China's planning body - the National Development and Reform Commission - signal not only an increasing flexibility in Beijing's approach but also the continued unreadiness to accept an emissions ceiling in the short term. "China's emissions will not continue to rise beyond 2050," Mr Su told the FT.

China and India have been resisting constant pressure from the developed nations to agree to a target of reducing carbon emissions by an overall average of 50 per cent by 2050.

Mr Su restated Beijing's view that, as China still needs to grow its economy to help its 1bn-plus population to escape poverty, it is too early to discuss emissions caps.

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