China will enhance cooperation with the United States in coping with climate change, Premier Wen Jiabao said in Beijing on Wednesday.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (R) meets with U.S. House Speaker [CCTV]

"China will cement policy dialogue with the United States, take the joint tackling of climate change as an important aspect of cooperation and push for positive results in the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference," Wen told U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her delegation.

The U.S. House delegation started a week-long China tour on Sunday at the invitation of Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the top legislature, the National People's Congress.

China and the United States could cooperate from a long-term point of view, live in harmony and value their differences while promoting bilateral ties, Wen said.

The two countries shared a broad common interest and firm foundation for cooperation in bilateral fields and on the world stage, Wen told Pelosi at the government compound of Zhongnanhai in downtown Beijing.

"A Sino-U.S. relationship that will be stable for a long period and develop soundly is conducive for both peoples and the world at large," Wen said.

Wen briefed Pelosi on China's policies, measures and achievements in coping with climate change.

All countries should, on the basis of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol and the Bali Roadmap, adhere to the principle of common and differential liability, rely on science and technology and take real steps to tackle the global challenge, he said.

A new protocol was expected to be born in Copenhagen by the end of this year to replace the Kyoto Protocol to prevent global warming and climate change.

Pelosi said she and the U.S. lawmakers would exchange views with China in a candid and open manner to boost bilateral ties.

The United States appreciated the great achievements China had made in its economic development and its measures to confront climate change and would step up cooperation with China, she noted.

China is the world's No. 2 energy consumer following the United States. It has pledged to improve energy efficiency and boost the clean energy sector so as to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In a position paper on the Copenhagen Conference, China urged the developed nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2020 compared with 1990.

(Xinhua News Agency May 28, 2009)