-Strengthen infrastructure planning and construction. China will speed up building of the Project of South-to-North Water Diversion, and gradually generate the new pattern of optimized water resources allocation by three water diversion lines linking the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, the Huaihe River and the Haihe River, characterized by "four horizontal and three vertical lines;" enhance the construction and improvement of key water control projects (reservoirs, etc.) and infrastructures in irrigation areas; continue the construction of regional water storage and water diversion projects.

-Promote the development and extension of technologies for water allocation, water saving and sea water utilization; focus the researches on the mechanisms of water exchange among atmosphere water, surface water, soil water and groundwater, and technologies for optimizing water resource configuration, wastewater and rainfall utilization and artificial rainfall enhancement; exploit technologies for industrial water recycling, water-saving irrigation, dryland farming and biological water saving, especially technologies and equipments for precise irrigation and intelligent management for water use in agriculture; develop and extend technologies of domestic water saving and sea water utilization.

4.2.4 Coastal zones and coastal regions

-Establish and improve relevant laws and regulations. China will formulate regional management regulations and detailed rules in accordance with the Marine Environment Protection Law of the People's Republic of China, Law of the People's Republic of China on Administration of Sea Areas, etc., and considering characteristics of the specific localities in the coastal areas; establish integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) system, the comprehensive decision-making mechanism and effective coordination mechanism; handle timely various issues occurred in the development and protection of coastal zones; establish demonstration sites of integrated management.

-Promote technology development and extension. The government will strengthen research and development of technologies for protection and restoration of the marine ecosystems, with emphasis on cultivation, transplanting and recovery of coastal mangroves, protection and restoration of coral reefs and coastal wetlands to reduce the vulnerability of ecosystems in coastal zones; accelerate the construction of the designated marine natural reserves, such as coral reef reserves, mangrove reserves, etc.; improve capability of protection of marine biodiversity.

-Improve the capability in marine environmental monitoring and early-warning. China will set up more observation sites and networks in coastal areas and on islands; construct hi-tech observation systems; improve the capability of aerial remote sensing and telemetering of marine environments, especially capability of monitoring sea level change; build early-warning and response system for tidal disasters in coastal areas; promote comprehensive supporting capability of early-warning, strengthen service capability of early-warning systems and capability of production and distribution of early-warning products to increase the capability for early-warning against marine disasters.

-Strength adaptation strategies to address sea level rise. The government will adopt measures of combining slope protection with shore protection and combining engineering measures with biological measures; raise design standards of sea dike height, and heighten and consolidate existing sea dike engineering works to enhance the capacity of dealing with sea level rise; prevent excessive exploitation of groundwater and land subsidence in coastal areas by taking measures of artificial groundwater recharge in the areas where groundwater funnel and land subsidence occurred; take countermeasures such as using fresh water from rivers or reservoirs to dilute and restrain brackish water against sea water intrusion in the estuaries; raise protection standard for coastal cities and major projects, raise standard for designed height of port docks, and adjust outlet depth; make efforts to construct coastal shelterbelt systems with multi-species, multi-layer and multi-function of forests.

4.3 Climate Change Science and Technology

-To strengthen the macro-management and coordination for climate change related scientific research. Measures in this regard include: further understanding the significance of climate change related scientific and technological research; complying with the guiding principle of "making independent innovation, achieving breakthrough in key areas, supporting the development and guiding the future trend" for scientific research; meeting the requirements of Framework of National Program for Medium-to-Long-Term Scientific and Technological Development on climate change related scientific research; strengthening the macro-management and policy guidance for scientific and technological research on climate change; refining the leadership and coordination mechanism for scientific and technological research on climate change; improving the regional and industrial allocation of climate change related scientific research; further reinforcing the support to climate change related scientific research; speeding up the integration of climate change science and technology resources; encouraging and supporting innovation of climate change science and technology; and bringing science and technology into full play as the basic supporting force in response to climate change.

-To promote scientific research and technological development in key areas of climate change. Measures in this regard include: strengthening the research on scientific facts and uncertainty, impacts of climate change on social economy, analysis of the effectiveness of socioeconomic benefits and costs in response to climate change, technological options in response to climate change and effectiveness assessment; strengthening observation on climate change, research and development on global climate change monitoring technology, technology for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation technology to enhance China's capacity in response to climate change and implementing the UNFCCC; paying special attention to the research and development of large-scale and precise climate change monitoring technology, energy efficiency and clean energy technology, emission control and utilization technology for carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gas emissions in key sectors, biological carbon-capture technology and carbon sequestration technology.

-To strengthen the construction of talent in the area of climate change science and technology. Measures in this regard include: strengthening personnel training; establishing effective incentive and competition mechanism and a favorable academic environment for talent development; paying special attention to foster academic leaders and eminent candidates with international vision and the ability to lead climate change studies, and encouraging young talents to distinguish themselves; strengthening the disciplinary development of climate change science; speeding up the construction and integration of talent teams; establishing an "open, flowing, competitive and cooperative" operation mechanism for climate change research institutes; making full use of various channels and approaches to enhance the research ability and independent innovation capacity of China's scientists and research institutions; building up a climate change science and technology management team and research and development team in the context of China's national circumstances; encouraging and recommending China's scientists to participate in international research and development programs on global climate change and get positions in international research institutions.

-To increase the financial support to climate change related scientific and technological research. Measures in this regard include: establishing relatively stable governmental-funded channels as the main financing sources to enlarge the official financial support to climate change related scientific and technological research; taking measures to ensure the full allocation and efficient utilization of governmental investment; raising fund through various channels and by various means from all circles of the society to support climate change scientific and technological research; introducing venture capital in the area of climate change study; guiding business and enterprises to increase their investment in research and development on climate change science and technology and giving full play of their role as the major body of technology innovation; utilizing bilateral and multilateral funds from foreign governments and international organizations to assist China's research and development on climate change science and technology.

4.4 Public Awareness on Climate Change

-Fully utilizing the promotion function of the government. Governments at all levels should regard raising public awareness as an important work to address climate change and carry it out with care. For this purpose, China will take various measures to promote the climate change awareness of government officials at all level and decision-makers of enterprises and institutions and build up a high-quality leadership team with strong awareness of global climate change step by step. Furthermore, all walks of life of the society will be fully employed to disseminate China's efforts and policies in response to climate change and to promote public awareness of climate change.

-Reinforcing the publicity, education and training on climate change. Measures in this regard include: making full use of mass media such as books, newspapers, periodicals and audio-video products to disseminate knowledge of climate change to stakeholders in all walks of life; advocating sustainable life style including electricity-saving, water-saving, garbage classification, reduction, recycling and reuse; incorporating climate change publicity and education into the framework of basic education, adult education and higher education as an important component of China's overall quality education; holding various thematic training seminars targeting at different audiences and organizing different workshops on both popular and professional climate change science; taking full advantage of information technology to enrich the contents and functions of the government's climate change information websites and building them up into quick-responding and effective platforms for information dissemination and communication.

-Encouraging public participation. Measures in this regard include: Establishing incentive mechanism to encourage the public and enterprise participation in the climate change issue and fully utilizing public supervision; improving information publicity channels and regulations on climate change issues; widening the channels for public participation and supervision; giving full play to the media's supervision and guidance function on public opinion; increasing the transparency of decision-making on climate change issues; promoting the science and democracy in the area of climate change administration; giving full play to the initiative of social communities and non-governmental organizations.

-Reinforcing international cooperation and communication. Measures in this regard include: strengthening international cooperation on promoting public awareness on climate change issues; utilizing the experience of good international practice on climate change publicity and education; actively carrying out information exchange with foreign countries and exchanging publications, movies, televisions, audio-video tapes and other literature works on global climate change; building up open database on climate change and providing inquiry and information retrieval services for domestic agencies, research institutions and schools.

4.5 Institutions and Mechanisms

-Strengthening the leadership on addressing global climate change. The response to climate change correlates with economic, social, domestic and foreign issues. Therefore, the State Council decides to establish the National Leading Group to Address Climate Change headed by Premier Wen Jiabao, with Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan and State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan serving as the Deputy Directors of the Group. The Leading Group will be responsible for deliberating and determining key national strategies, guidelines and measures on climate change, as well as coordinating and resolving key issues related to climate change. The Office of the Leading Group, whose capacity shall be strengthened, is established within the National Development and Reform Commission. Relevant ministries and departments of the State Council shall seriously fulfill their responsibilities and strengthen coordination and cooperation, so as to achieve synergies to address climate change. Local governments at different levels shall enhance the organization and leadership on local responses to climate change, and formulate and implement local climate change programs as a matter of priority.

-Establishing a regional administration system for coordinating the work in response to climate change. Measures in this regard include: establishing regional administration agencies to fulfill and implement the national program; organizing and coordinating local activities and actions in response to climate change; building up local expert groups on climate change and initiating proper climate change policy and measures according to local conditions such as geographical environment, climatic conditions and economic development level; meanwhile, strengthening the coordination between national and local governments to ensure the smooth implementation of relevant policy and measures in response to climate change.

-Making effective use of the Clean Development Mechanism Fund (CDMF). According to the pertinent articles of the Measures for Operation and Management of Clean Development Mechanism Projects, the Chinese Government will levy a certain proportion of the certified emission reductions (CERs) transfer benefits from CDM projects, and the revenue collected upon CERs transfer benefits from CDM projects will be used to establish the CDMF to support the country's activities on climate change such as climate change related science and technology research, and raising national adaptation and mitigation capacity. The establishment of the CDMF will also play an active role in relieving the pressure of demand for fund in response to climate change and guaranteeing the effective implementation of this national program.

Part 5 China's Position on Key

Climate Change Issues and Needs

for International Cooperation

Climate change, the impacts of which have been felt all over the world, was mainly caused by the massive emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases originated from developed countries since industrial revolution. Broad international cooperation is necessary to address climate change. In order to effectively address climate change and implement this national program, China is ready to strengthen international cooperation with all countries. Meanwhile, China would like to appeal to the developed countries to sincerely fulfill their commitments under the Convention to provide financial assistance and transfer technology to developing countries so as to enhance their capacity to address climate change.

5.1 China's Position on Key Climate Change Issues

5.1.1 Mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions

Mitigating greenhouse gas emissions is one of the important components in addressing climate change. According to the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" of the UNFCCC, the Parties included in Annex I to the Convention should take the lead in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. For developing countries with less historical emission and current low per capita emission, their priority is to achieve sustainable development. As a developing country, China will stick to its sustainable development strategy and take such measures as energy efficiency improvement, energy conservation, development of renewable energy, ecological preservation and construction, as well as large-scale tree planting and afforestation, to control its greenhouse gas emissions and make further contribution to the protection of global climate system.

5.1.2 Adaptation to climate change

Adaptation to climate change is an integral part of addressing climate change. In the past, sufficient attention was not given to adaptation, but it is now required a shift in direction. When formulating further legal documents to address climate change in the future, the international community should give full consideration to adaptation to the climate change already under way, especially the promotion of developing countries' capacity against extreme climatic events. For this purpose, China is ready to cooperate with the international community to actively participate in activities for climate change adaptation and formulation of relevant legal documents.

5.1.3 Technology cooperation and transfer

Technology will play the central role in addressing climate change. International technology cooperation and transfer should be strengthened to share the benefit of technological development worldwide. Measures in this regard should include the following: establishing an effective technology cooperation mechanism to promote research and development, deploy and transfer ring technology of addressing climate change; eliminating obstacles to technology cooperation and transfer in terms of policy, institution, procedures, financial resources and protection of intellectual property rights; initiating incentive measures for technology cooperation and transfer to ensure its occurrence in reality; establishing a special fund for international technology cooperation so that environment and climate-friendly technologies are accessible and affordable to developing countries.

5.1.4 Full implementation of commitments to the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol

The UNFCCC has provided the objectives, principles and commitments to address climate change, based on which the Kyoto Protocol further sets up the specific greenhouse gas reduction targets for Annex I country Parties for the period from 2008 to 2012. All parties are supposed to faithfully implement their respective commitments to the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol. The developed countries should fulfill their commitments of taking the lead to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and providing financial assistance and technology transfer to the developing countries. As a country of responsibility, China will seriously fulfill its commitments to the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol.

5.1.5 Regional cooperation on climate change

The UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol establish the major legal frameworks for the international community to address climate change, which does not mean to close the door to regional cooperation on climate change. Regional cooperation on climate change, in any form, should function as a helpful complement to the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol rather than replacing or weakening them. The purpose of regional cooperation should be to stimulate all efforts to address climate change and boost practical international cooperation. China will participate in regional cooperation on climate change in this way.

5.2 Needs for International Cooperation on Climate Change

5.2.1 Needs for technology transfer and cooperation

-Technology need for observation and monitoring of climate change. Major technology need for this purpose includes: atmospheric observation, marine observation, terrestrial eco-observation, satellite technology on meteorological, marine and terrestrial resources, climate system simulation and calculation technology, etc. Among these needs, technology for manufacturing of advanced observation equipments, the high-resolution and high-precision satellite technology, technology for satellite data acquirement and remote-sensing information collection and reviewing, and high-performance climate change simulation techniques are on top of the list for China to establish its own climate observation system, and are the priorities of the country's need for technology transfer and cooperation.

-Technology need for mitigation of climate change. China is at the stage of large-scale infrastructure construction, and is in urgent need of technology for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. China's technology need for mitigation of climate change mainly covers advanced energy production and utilization technology, environmental protection and resource comprehensive utilization technology, high-efficiency transportation technology, new material technology, new-style building material technology, etc. Among these needs, the high-efficiency, low-pollution coal-burning power generation technology, large hydropower generation unit technology, new generation nuclear technology, renewable energy technology, architectural energy conservation technology, clean fuel vehicle technology, hybrid electric vehicle technology, urban rail-based traffic technology, fuel cell and hydrogen technology, oxygen-rich coal-spray blast furnace and long-life span technology, comprehensive technology for transformation and expansion of small and medium-sized nitrogenous production facilities, new paving material technology and new-type wall-body material technology are the priorities. Introduction and diffusion of these technologies in China will make significant difference to the country's efforts to control greenhouse gas emissions.

-Technology need for adaptation to climate change. China's technology need for adaptation to climate change mainly includes high-efficiency water-saving agro-technologies such as spray and drip irrigation, water-saving and reusing technology of industrial water, treatment technology of industrial and household wastewater, household water-saving technology, high-efficiency flood-controlling technology, agro-biological technology, agricultural breeding technology, production technology for new-type fertilizers, disease and pest control technology for cropland, forest and grassland, cultivation technology of fast-growing high-yield forest and high-efficiency firewood forest, technology for recovery and reconstruction of wetland, mangrove and coral reef ecosystems, technology for observation and pre-warning of flood, drought, sea level rise, agricultural disasters, etc. Timely acquisition of these technologies can greatly help China reinforce its capacity for adaptation to climate change.

5.2.2 Needs for capacity building

-Development of human resources. Capacity building need for development of human resources mainly includes personnel training, international exchange program, discipline development and professional training in the area of fundamental research on climate change, policy analysis on mitigation and adaptation, information system development and CDM project management.

-Adaptation to climate change. Capacity building need for adaptation to climate change mainly includes development of adaptation projects, case studies on extreme climatic events, improvement of climate observation systems, enhancing the adaptation capacity of coastal areas, water resource and agriculture sectors, etc.

-Technology transfer and cooperation. Capacity building need for technology transfer and cooperation mainly includes: timely following up new progress and trend of international technology development, effective identification and assessment of advanced adaptation technology, analysis on barriers to international technological transfer and cooperation, and improving the ability to adapt to and assimilate transferred technologies, etc.

-Public awareness. Capacity building need for public awareness includes developing medium- and long-term program and policy to enhance public awareness of climate change, establishing professional publicity and education network and institutions in line with international standards, training people working in media and education institutions, launching public campaigns for stakeholders from different regions and groups to disseminate the knowledge of climate change, and guiding the public consumption patterns in favor of the protection of global climate system.

-Information system development. Capacity building need on information system development includes: distributed databases on climate change, internet-based climate change information sharing platforms, application-oriented information system and information service system, public information service system and industrial information service system, international information exchange and cooperation, etc.

-National communications. Capacity building need for national communications includes: the establishment of statistical system catering to the compilation of emission inventory, collection of testing and monitoring data for emission factors, methodologies for inventory quality control, assessment of climate change impact and adaptation, projection of future emissions and the development and management of national greenhouse gas emission database.

(Source: http://en.ndrc.gov.cn)