China agrees to Doha amendment of Kyoto Protocol

BEIJING, June 3 (UPI) -- The Chinese government announced it deposited its acceptance of an amendment to the Kyoto climate measure with the U.N. secretary-general.

Wang Min, China's deputy U.N. envoy, deposited Beijing's acceptance of the Doha amendment. A statement published Monday by the official Xinhua News Agency says Beijing hopes other major economies follow suit.

"It also attaches great importance to addressing climate change, regarding this as an important part of its efforts to promote ecological progress and to build a beautiful country," the statement said.

China is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, followed by the United States, India and Russia.

The Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol extends the commitment period to curb greenhouse gas emissions to 2020, after the first commitment period ended in 2012.

Beijing said it would curb its emissions by 40 percent from a 2005 baseline by 2020. The Chinese announcement follows a proposal from the U.S. government to curbs its emissions by 30 percent from the 2005 baseline by 2030.