China committed to developing clean, low-carbon energy: Ambassador

London, Oct 31 (IANS) China is committed to developing clean and low-carbon energy, Chinese Ambassador to Britain Zheng Zeguang said ahead of the 26th United Nations Conference of Parties on Climate Change (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland.

As the world's biggest producer and consumer of energy, China is carrying out a massive energy revolution, Zheng added in a speech through a video link in the recent 'The Responsible Energy Forum 2021'.

China has become the world's largest market for renewable energy, with renewable power accounting for 29.5 per cent of overall electricity consumption, Zheng said.

China is also the biggest manufacturer of renewable energy equipment, ranks first in installed capacity of hydroelectric, wind and solar power generation, and has the largest nuclear power generating projects under construction, he noted.

Meanwhile, China is taking concrete actions to address climate change, said Zheng, adding that China has announced the goals of peaking carbon emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060, and rolled out a whole set of concrete measures to achieve these targets, Xinhua news agency reported.

China has high expectations for the upcoming COP26 in Glasgow, he said.

"We hope all parties will work closely together, give priority to completing the negotiations of the Paris rulebook, make arrangements for issues of major concern to developing countries, including financing, technology and capacity building, and push for the implementation of their respective declared objectives," he added.

China hopes to promote cooperation with Britain on green development, said the Ambassador.

There are huge potentials for practical cooperation in green finance, green technology, renewable energy, civilian use of nuclear energy, electric vehicles and carbon capture and storage. For such potential to bear fruit, however, the governments of both countries need to create a favourable political environment, he added.

"Economic and trade issues should not be politicized. When willful restrictions were imposed on businesses based on geo-political or ideology reasons, you are not practicing free trade, you are going against the rules of the WTO (World Trade Organization), you are not attracting FDI (foreign direct investment), and you are doing a disservice to global cooperation on green development," he said.

"I hope China and the UK could strengthen practical cooperation on green development in all sectors rather than resorting to mutual restriction," he added.