China has managed to grow economy and improve energy efficiency at the same time, the country’s special representative on climate change affairs Xie Zhenhua said.
He said the economic growth, along with improving the energy efficiency, is the country's contribution to the global battle against climate change, reports Xinhua.
Xie said this in response to a question about a media report of the rise of CO2 globally at a press conference held jointly by the BASIC nations (Brazil, South Africa, India, China) on Wednesday.
Xie said, it is true that green house gases have increased, however, there are also reports by international organisations saying that the increase of CO2 emissions has slowed in recent years, of which the principal reason is China's contribution.
"As a developing country, China wants development, but the only sort of development that is green and low-carbon," said Xie.
China's economy has grown by 1.48 times during the past decade, but the energy intensity, the measure of energy consumption per unit of GDP, has dwindled by 36 per cent, Xie said.
Xie said the country has avoided emitting 4.1 billion tonnes of CO2 through energy conservation efforts during the process of economic development.
He cited figures publicised by the World Bank that the amount of energy saved in China represented 58 per cent of the world's total.
"Through economic and industrial restructuring and that of the energy mix, we have reduced the carbon intensity," said Xie, citing the latest figure that carbon intensity during the first nine months of this year dropped by 3.0 per cent, following a 6.6 per cent decrease last year.
In terms of energy mix, Xie said, China's installed capacity of renewable energy accounted for 28 per cent of the world's total, while the incremental amount taking up 37 per cent of the world's total.
Furthermore, China's carbon sink increased by 500 million tonnes annually, said the special representative.