BEIJING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao called for China to step up efforts to tackle climate change so as to ensure the country's carbon dioxide emission cut 2020 targets would be reached.

Hu made the call on Monday at a lecture attended by members of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

China announced in November last year that it aimed to reduce the intensity of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP in 2020 by 40 to 45 percent compared with 2005 levels.

This was a "voluntary action" taken by the Chinese government based on its own national conditions and would have profound and far-reaching significance in ensuring China's economy and society develop in a sound and rapid manner, Hu said.

Combating climate change provided an important opportunity for China to speed up the transformation of its economic growth pattern and adjust its economic structure, he said.

Appropriate handling of the climate change issue was vitally important to China's social and economic development and was in the fundamental interests of the Chinese people and people worldwide, he stressed.

China has always paid great attention to the issue of combating climate change, Hu said.

China signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and had made noticeable progress after it announced binding targets on the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP and major pollutants as well as the expansion of forest coverage, he said.

He called for more efforts to save energy resources, improve energy efficiency, research and promote environmental-friendly technologies and upgrade the country's capacity to tackle climate change.

Efforts should also be made to improve relevant laws and policies to create favorable conditions for emission cut, Hu said.

Hu stressed that China would stick to the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities", shoulder its due responsibilities as a developing country, actively participate in international cooperation on tackling climate change and help other developing nations to improve their capacity to combat climate change.

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