Chinese President Hu Jintao has said the country must urgently confront climate change and make it a central part of the government's development strategy, state media said Wednesday.
Britain and other countries have accused China of vetoing attempts to give legal force to an agreement at UN climate change talks in Copenhagen in December and blocking an agreement on reductions in global emissions.
China, the world's biggest carbon polluter, has said it was never planning to accept outside reviews of its efforts to slow greenhouse gas emissions at the talks in Denmark.
Hu, addressing a Communist Party politburo "study meeting" on Tuesday, said China was committed to fighting climate change, and should boost environmental awareness among the population at large, the China Daily reported.
"We must fully recognise the importance, urgency and difficulty of dealing with climate change," Hu said.
"We must make it an important strategy for our socio-economic development."
Premier Wen Jiabao, who attended Tuesday's meeting, said China would continue to play "an active and constructive role" in working with the international community to reach a comprehensive and binding climate deal.
China has submitted its plans to fight climate change to the United Nations but described them as voluntary and has not formally endorsed the Copenhagen deal.
Beijing has repeatedly said rich countries should take the lead in committing to substantial emission reduction targets and provide financing to developing countries battling climate change.
Hu's comments came at high-level discussions signalling China will roll out economic and industrial policies aimed at fighting climate change as part of its five-year plan for 2011-15, the newspaper said.
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