China unveiled plans to help prepare for climate change

China has unveiled its first national plan for climate change, saying it is intent on tackling the problem but not at the expense of economic development.
The 62-page report reiterated China's aim to reduce energy use by a fifth before 2010 and increase the amount of renewable energy it produces.
But it also repeated Beijing's view that responsibility for climate change rests with rich westernised countries.
The report comes ahead of a G8 meeting that will focus on global warming.
Germany, which is hosting the meeting of industrialised nations, is calling for a new UN protocol on climate change to replace the Kyoto pact when it expires in 2012.
China's role in the debate is crucial, as many analysts believe it could overtake the US this year as the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases.
'Trailblazer'
China's new national plan on climate change offered few new targets on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but outlined how it intended to meet the goals it has already set, analysts say.
This includes the use of more wind, nuclear and hydro power as well as making coal-fired plants more efficient, the document outlined.


But it also stressed that the country's first priority remained "sustainable development and poverty eradication".
"China is a developing country. Although we do not have the obligation to cut emissions, it does not mean we do not want to shoulder our share of responsibilities," Ma Kai, chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission, said.
"We must reconcile the need for development with the need for environmental protection," he said, adding that China wanted to "blaze a new path to industrialisation".
He said rich countries were responsible for most of the greenhouse gases produced over the past century, and had an "unshirkable responsibility" to do more to tackle the problem.
"The international community should respect the developing countries' right to develop," he added.
The plan is a strong declaration of intentions, but so far China has missed almost every environmental target it has set itself, the BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Shanghai says.