On June 16, the last day of the third preparatory meeting for the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, La Yifan, China's representative in the negotiations, said that although certain progress had been made over the past week, the participating parties remained divided on a number of key points in the final draft document.

Key areas where differences remained to be reconciled included the principles of sustainable development, implementation measures, developing a green economy, reforms in institutional framework, and sustainable development goals, La said.

China hopes the parties involved can work in a more constructive manner to bring a successful end to negotiations before the Rio+20 Summit begins on June 20.

With regards to building a green economy, one of the issues that the negotiating parties have yet been unable to agree upon, La said many developing countries think the greatest challenge they now face is eradicating poverty, and that developing a green economy requires resources, funds and technologies they do not possess. Hence they hope developed countries will provide help in the form of financial aid, technology transfer and capacity building. Developed nations, however, are not so enthusiastic due to their current economic difficulties.

La acknowledged that China maintains the same position as that of the Group of 77 developing countries, which also includes Brazil, the host of Rio+20. China has been actively involved in coordinating with these countries and helping them reach consensus among themselves, he said. Looking beyond the UN conference, La said countries around the world should work toward their sustainable development goals in ways that suit their national conditions and stage of development.

(Reporting from Rio de Janeiro)

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