China will vigorously promote energy conservation and emissions reduction to tackle climate change and promote sustainable development, Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan said on Tuesday.

"In order to ease the conflict between economic development and environmental protection, China will stick to the concept of human-oriented and scientific development," Zeng told the opening ceremony of an international forum of Nobel laureates and world-renowned economists.

China would pay more attention to "the expansion of domestic demand, the development of primary and tertiary industries, innovation and technological progress", he said.

The government would adjust the development mode mainly through energy conservation and emissions reduction, Zeng said, adding it would actively promote the use of renewable energy such as hydropower, wind energy, biomass energy and solar energy and the development of nuclear power.

"The proportion of renewable energy in overall energy consumption should rise from the current eight percent to 15 percent in 2020," he said.

Thermal power and iron and steel industries with high energy consumption and pollution would be eliminated at a faster speed, while energy-efficient buildings and environmental-friendly light bulbs would become dominant, Zeng said, calling for development of the recycling economy and efficient use of the energy resources.

Forest coverage would be increased from 18.2 percent in 2005 to 20 percent in 2010, he said, adding frontier technologies such as hydrogen fuel cell and carbon absorption would be developed to support environmental protection.

A resource tax and pricing system, a user-pays mechanism for mineral resources and an environment compensation system should be established with improved laws and regulations to build an energy-saving and environment-friendly society, he added.

Nine Nobel laureates and five world-renowned scientists, including Robert Mundell, Edmund Phelps, Richard Schrock and Thomas Schelling, are meeting from Sept. 11 to 14 to discuss energy efficiency with 600 Chinese scientists, officials and experts.

They are expected to give more than 50 lectures on topics such as solar energy and its market development, global warming and the reduction in greenhouse gases in Beijing.

(Xinhua News Agency September 12, 2007)