China To Move on Climate

The Chinese Government is close to dropping tariffs on technologies that increase energy efficiency and decrease pollution in what would be the country’s biggest move towards tackling global warming.

Wu Yi, the Chinese Vice-Premier, is in advanced talks about energy tariffs with Henry Paulson, the US Treasury Secretary, as part of trade negotiations between the countries in Washington this week.

China is expected to agree to eliminate tariffs, some as high as 16 per cent, on technology hardware and energy services as it seeks to increase the efficiency of its power-generating plants and, in turn, reduce the production of harmful emissions.

Daniel Rosen, principal of China Strategic Advisory, a consultancy, said: “This would be a symbolically very important move because it would be the first time that energy efficiency and the environment have been tackled in an integrated manner”.