--Optimizing the energy consumption structure through developing renewable energy, boosting nuclear power plant construction and speeding up the development and utilization of coal-bed gas. The target by 2010 is to raise the proportion of renewable energy (including large-scale hydropower) in the primary energy supply by up to 10 percent, and the extraction of coal-bed gas up to 10 billion cubic meters.

--Controlling greenhouse gas emissions generated by industrial production through reinforcing industrial policies concerning the metallurgy, building materials and chemical industries, developing a recycling economy, raising resources utilization efficiency and strengthening control of emissions of nitrous oxide. By 2010, the emissions of nitrous oxide from industrial production should be no higher than in 2005.

-Striving to control emissions of methane by continuously spreading low-emission and high-yield rice varieties, semi-drought rice cultivation, scientific irrigation and the technology of application of fertilizers according to the results of tests of local soil, and strengthening research and development (R&D) on fine ruminant animal breeds, large-scale breeding and management techniques, strengthening management of animal waste, waste water and solid waste, and expanding the utilization of methane.

--Striving to realize the target of a 20-percent increase in the forest coverage rate by 2010, and an increase of annual volume of carbon dioxide in carbon sinks by 50 million tons compared to that of 2005 through continuing key projects in afforestation, returning farmland to forest and grassland, and farmland capital construction, and implementing relevant policies.

Enhancing the Capacity of Adaptation to Climate Change

--Through improving the multi-disaster monitoring and early warning mechanisms, the policy-making and coordination mechanisms with more than one department involved and the action mechanism with extensive public participation, the capability of monitoring and forecasting meteorological disasters will be strengthened. By 2010, a number of meteorological disaster prevention projects will be completed and play a fundamental, overall and vital role in the economy and society, so as to enhance the country's comprehensive capacity to monitor, warn about and cope with meteorological disasters, and reduce the damage from them.

-Through shoring up farmland capital construction, adjusting cropping systems, breeding stress-resistant varieties, developing bio-technologies and other adaptive measures, by 2010 some 24 million hectares of grassland will be improved, 52 million hectares of grassland suffering from degradation, desertification and salinity will be restored, and the efficient utilization coefficient of agricultural irrigation water will be raised to 0.5.

--Through strengthening natural forest conservation and nature reserve management, continuing key eco-protection projects, establishing important ecosystems, and stepping up natural ecological restoration, by 2010 some 90 percent of typical forest ecosystems and key national wildlife species will be under effective protection; nature reserves will account for 16 percent of the national territory; 250,000 square km of land suffering from water and soil erosion will have been improved; 300,000 square km of land will have been ecologically restored; and 22 million hectares of desertified land will have been put under control.

--Through rational development and optimized allocation of water resources, improving new mechanisms for farmland water conservancy, strengthening measures for water conservation and hydrological monitoring, by 2010 the vulnerability of China's water resources to climate change will have been alleviated; concrete progress will have been made to build a water-conserving society; an anti-flood system of large rivers will be in place; and the standard for drought resistance of farmland will have been raised.

--Through scientifically monitoring the trend of sea level change, controlling marine and coastal ecosystems, rationally exploiting the coast, protecting coastal wetlands and planting coastal shelterbelts, China aims to restore the mangrove swamps by 2010, and raise the coastal areas' capability to resist marine disasters.

Strengthening R&D

--Through strengthening basic research on climate change, further developing and improving research and analytical methods, and intensifying the training of professionals and decision-makers in relevant fields, China aims to keep up with international advanced level in fields related to climate change by 2010, so that it will have solid scientific ground for drafting national strategies and policies on climate change, and in participating in international cooperation in this regard.

--Through building up its innovation capacity, and promoting international cooperation and technology transfer, by 2010 China will make big breakthroughs in technologies of energy development and conservation, and clean energy; quicken the industrial application of advanced technologies; enhance the technological capacity of agriculture, water conservancy and forestry sectors to adapt to climate change; and provide strong scientific support for efforts to address climate change.

Enhancing Public Awareness and Improving Management

--Through more publicity, education and training by means of modern information dissemination technologies to encourage public participation, by 2010 it is expected that public awareness of the problem of climate change will have been made universal, and a social environment conducive to addressing climate change will be in place.

-Through improving the multi-ministerial decision-making coordination mechanism and building an action mechanism involving a wide range of enterprise and public participation, China aims to establish an efficient institutional and management framework commensurate with the work to address climate change.

IV. Policies and Actions to Decelerate

Climate Change

China has adopted proactive policies and taken active actions to slow the process of climate change. It has adopted a number of policies and measures to adjust the economic structure, change the development patterns, save energy and raise the efficiency of energy use, and optimize energy mix and promote afforestation. Marked achievements have been made.

Adjusting the Economic Structure to Promote the Optimizing and Upgrading of the Industrial Structure

The Chinese Government attaches great importance to the adjustment of the economic structure and the transformation of the economic development patterns, and has formulated and implemented a series of industrial policies and special programs to make the reduction of resources and energy consumption an important part of its industrial policies. By promoting the optimizing and upgrading of China's industrial structure, it aims to form a mode of economic growth featuring "less input, less consumption, less emission and high efficiency."

-Accelerating the development of the service sector. The government issued Opinions on the Acceleration of the Development of the Service Sector in 2007, in which it sets the goal of raising the proportion of added value from the service sector in the GDP by 3 percentage points from 2005 to 2010. It has also made clear policies that provide support to key areas, weak links and new fields of the service sector. As a result, modern services such as tourism, finance and logistics are booming.

-Making hi-tech industry larger and stronger. In 2007, the government issued the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10) for such industries as hi-tech, e-commerce and information technology, suggesting that the proportion of added value of hi-tech industry in the total industrial added value be raised by 5 percentage points from 2005 to 2010. The government has formulated and implemented policies and measures conducive to the development of such hi-tech industries as digital television, software, integrated circuits and bioengineering. It has quickened the fostering of newly emerging industries that conform to the requirements of saving energy and reducing emissions. Hi-tech industries, including information technology, bioengineering, aeronautics, space flight, new energy, new materials and marine industries, are developing rapidly. The revitalization of hi-tech manufacturing industry has been effective, while construction of infrastructure and basic industries has made great progress.

-Accelerating the pace of eliminating backward production capacity. In 2007, the government announced a timetable for different areas to close down their backward production facilities in 13 industries during the latest Five-Year Plan period. Last year saw the stoppage of 14.38 million kw of small thermo-power generating units, and the reduction of 46.59 million tons of iron-smelting capacity, 37.47 million tons of steelmaking capacity and 52 million tons of cement production capacity. More than 2,000 heavily polluting papermaking plants, chemical plants, and printing and dyeing mills were ordered to close down, as were 11,200 small coal mines.

-Limiting the excessively rapid expansion of industries that consume a large amount of energy and discharge heavy emissions. Relevant policies have been promulgated to control new projects. Standards of market entry for high-energy-consuming industries have been promulgated. By raising the standard of entry of industry for high energy consumption, enhancing the entry threshold of energy conservation and environmental protection, and by adjusting tax rebates for exports and customs duties, the government is working to restrain the export of commodities that consume large amounts of energy, discharge large quantities of emissions and use precious raw materials. The expansion of high-energy-consuming industries is being slowed.