China's Hu says climate change on APEC agenda

BEIJING, Aug 29 (Reuters) Climate change is a priority for Beijing and should be on the agenda at the Asia-Pacific leaders summit next week, China's President Hu Jintao said during a phone chat with Australian Prime Minister John Howard today.

''Climate change affects sustainable development and the well-being of all humanity. The Chinese government attaches great importance to the problem of climate change,'' the report quoted Hu saying.

He supports discussion of the issue at the summit and hopes the delegates can reach an agreement which reflects their common ground, it added.

China is coming under increasing international pressure about its carbon dioxide emissions, expected to overtake US emissions by 2008.

But its leaders have rejected caps on output for fear they will cramp growth.

Beijing says developed countries responsible for most of the greenhouse gasses already in the atmosphere should do more to cut their output and transfer clean technology to poorer nations.

About 1,000 delegates are currently meeting in Vienna to seek a global deal that would tackle warming beyond 2012 and widen the UN's Kyoto Protocol to include outsiders such as the United States and China.

Howard said he was ready to work with China for a positive outcome at APEC on tackling climate change, the statement said.

Much of Australia is struggling with a 10-year drought, blamed on climate change by some, and which is expected to wipe up to one percent from the country's economic output.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum draws together leaders of 21 economies accounting for more than a third of the world's population, about 60 per cent of global GDP and 47 per cent of world trade volume.

Members are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan (under the name Chinese Taipei), Thailand, United States and Vietnam.

REUTERS SY RAI2029