China says Premier Wen to attend climate summit

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will attend the climate change summit in Copenhagen next month to demonstrate his nation's willingness to work with the global community, the government said Thursday.

"Premier Wen Jiabao will attend the 15th conference of signatories to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change," ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters, giving no other details on Wen's itinerary.

His "attendance will fully demonstrate the great importance attached by the Chinese government to this issue, as well as the political willingness of the Chinese government to cooperate with the international community," Qin said.

The announcement comes as China said it will cut the intensity of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of gross domestic product in 2020 by 40 to 45 percent from 2005 levels, Xinhua news agency reported, offering targets for the first time.

Dozens of world leaders are set to gather for the UN-sponsored talks in the Danish capital from December 7-18 to seek a successor to the Kyoto Protocol on limiting the greenhouse gases blamed for climate change.

The White House said on Wednesday that US President Barack Obama would attend the climate change conference on December 9 en route to collect his Nobel Peace Prize in the Norwegian capital Oslo.

China and the United States are the world's number one and two sources of greenhouse gases and are considered critical to any progress at Copenhagen.Related article: Obama to head to Copenhagen