The French president’s trip comes hot on the heels of a similar visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was in China last week hoping to drum up business, and after Chinese President Xi Jinping visited both Britain and the U.S. in the last two months.
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“The Paris agreement must send out a clear signal for the world to transition to green and low-carbon, climate-resilient and sustainable development”, the two countries said, also calling for an “ambitious and legally binding” deal in Paris.
Hollande is visiting China ahead of the summit to seek China’s support for a new climate change deal in Paris.
China, which is the world’s largest polluter, is expected to be a key contributor at the conference to put forth the notion of whether the developed or developing countries should carry the weight of reducing emissions, amid the ongoing disputes.
This story has been corrected to show that the joint statement says China and France agreed in their statement that countries should review their emissions cuts, not necessarily increase them, every five years.
Before meeting Xi at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, Hollande travelled to the south-western city of Chongqing where he visited a sewage treatment plant, according to the state-run People’s Daily newspaper. Just days after Chinese President Xi Jinping returned from a state visit to Britain, where he promised an investment of close to 50 billion pounds, Beijing has seen several Western leaders coming on visits. “That doesn’t mean that the Paris conference is definitely going to be a success, but the conditions for success have been laid down in Beijing today”.
At the end of the month, Paris will welcome a crucial meeting for the future of the planet.
In June China pledged that, by 2030, it would cut its Carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 60-65% compared to 2005 levels.
Bennett was looking forward to a Free Trade Agreement between China and the European Union, which he said will not only have a bilateral impact, but will also immeasurably strengthen the “One Belt, One Road” initiative, fortifying its eastern and western flanks respectively.
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In his visit to China, Hollande is now being accompanied by almost 40 heads of different French companies. The country had also said that it would increase its non-fossil fuels for primary energy consumption to about 20 percent by 2030.
