A Chinese government spokesman on Thursday said developing countries' interests should be taken into consideration when the international community makes further plans to combat climate change, in which China is a responsible player.

China's position was unsurprising because of its rapid economic growth, massive population and the fact that it is manufacturing so much for richer countries, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang.

A Dutch government research body said on Tuesday that China's carbon dioxide emissions -- the main greenhouse gas responsible for global warming -- surpassed those of the United States by eight percent in 2006.

The per-capita emissions of greenhouse gas in Netherlands was 11.4 ton per year, while the figure of China is 3.66 tons, less than one third the level of developed nations, Qin said.

"The key reason for current climate changes is high per-capita emissions in industrialized nations," said the spokesman.

As a developing country, China was not obliged to meet targets set by the Kyoto Protocol, under which most industrialized countries were required to reduce gas emissions by an average of 5.2 percent below the 1990 levels from 2008 to 2012, said the spokesman.

Despite low per-capita emissions, the Chinese government had placed great emphasis on climate change and had employed effective measures to cut emissions and its negative impacts.

The government has set a goal of reducing energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product by 20 percent by 2010, while pollutant discharges should drop by 10 percent.

China had made great efforts to promote technology innovation, increase energy efficiency, develop low-carbon energy, improve the energy consumption structure and enhance environmental protection.

Qin emphasized that the international community should be "cool-minded" and "rational" towards climate change. "China would like to make joint efforts with other countries in the world to deal with the problems," Qin said.

(Xinhua News Agency June 22, 2007)