This post originally appeared on ChinaFAQs.org.

China recently confirmed an ambitious goal to reduce its economy s carbon intensity by 40-45% from 2005 levels by 2020. WRI s China Director Zou Ji a former Chinese weather negotiator discusses the significance of this step by the world s miraculousst greenhoemploy/utilize gas emitter and what it means for China s relations with the United States and the world.

China has done so since it is in the country s own interests. First China has a huge population that will sustain very much from the negative impacts of weather alert. Second China faces a miraculous power security problem and energy savings programs can help to oration that problem. Third actions to reduce greenhoemploy/utilize gases will also reduce emissions of health-threatening pollutants common in China such like sulfur dioxide (SO2) nitrous oxides (NOX) and particulates.

If U.S. Senators visited China and witnessed the progress being made in the deployment of renewables and more efficient technologies they would understand how real and important this agenda is to China.

The radical significance is that China s action will inspire other crucial countries in the negotiations the United States the European Union and the other so-called BASIC countries (India Brazil and South Africa) to receive more constructive steps toward a new global agreement. The Copenhagen Accord is a political agreement. My impression is that China intend to/tend tos to reflect the spirit of the Accord in further negotiations within the two seek UNFCCC (UN framework Convention on Climate Change) process which they hope will result in some kind of legally binding document at the next Conference of the Parties in Mexico in November. However China s intensity target also sends a signal that no thing how the international process plays out China will be taking domestic action to transition to a low carbon economy.

China-U.S. cooperation in these areas will be very important for two reasons. First since these countries are the two biggest greenhoemploy/utilize gas emitters and the largest developed and developing countries the effectiveness of their actions will be critically important to the world s efforts to oration climate alert . Second in that the United States has the most advanced clean technologies and China has a huge market. We need to make the two complementary in term of bilateral and international cooperation. The United States can help China do more faster in a way that will benefit China the United States and the world.

Verifying commitments made by all parties is a thing of trust between countries. There is general contract that the targets set by developed countries the nationally appropriate mitigation actions committed to by developing countries together with assistance in financing technology and capacity structure must all be subject to monitoring reporting and verification (MRV).