China committed to setting 'clear' climate targets to ensure global stability: Vice president

China is committed to setting "clear" targets and ensuring their implementation to provide stability and certainty for global climate governance, Chinese Vice President Han Zheng said in a meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, state media reported Wednesday. Han met with Guterres on Tuesday on the sidelines of COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, Beijing-based Xinhua News reported. Conveying Chinese President Xi Jinping's "cordial" greetings to Guterres, Han said Beijing attaches great importance to climate change.

This year, Beijing set targets for non-fossil energy sources to account for 50% of power generation and electricity to account for 35% of final energy consumption by 2030, according to Han. He added that the global response to climate change currently faces numerous challenges, as developing countries, in particular, are confronted with difficulties including funding shortages, technological shortcomings and inadequate capacity to implement their nationally determined contributions, which require the international community to address them together.

China looks forward to seeing the 31st meeting make new progress and reach a new consensus under the leadership of Guterres, he added. Guterres, in return, said that as a global leader in renewable energy, China has made "substantial" contributions to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. The two also discussed the importance of working collaboratively toward securing a robust and credible set of outcomes from COP31 that address the gaps in mitigation, finance and adaptation, a UN statement said.

Guterres thanked Han for China’s "continued" support for the UN and its activities.