国内英语新闻:Danish PM appreciates Chinese premier's role in Copenhagen conference: FM spokesman

BEIJING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen earlier this month expressed his appreciation for Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's important and constructive role in the Copenhagen conference, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tuesday.

Rasmussen made the remarks in a letter to Wen on Feb. 12, said spokesman Qin Gang at a regular press conference.

Premier Wen on Jan. 29 wrote a letter in reply to Rasmussen concerning the Copenhagen Accord, reiterating China's support for the Accord and the country's climate change commitments.

Wen said in the letter that the Copenhagen Accord which resulted from the UN climate change conference in the Danish capital last year laid the foundation for advancing international cooperation on climate change and enabled future negotiations to take place.

Rasmussen replied on Feb. 12 that he fully agreed with Wen on his evaluation, saying that he was inspired by China's support for the Accord, Qin said.

The Chinese government had reported its emission cuts progress to the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), reaffirming a reduction of carbon dioxide emission intensity per unit of GDP by 40 to 45 percent by 2020 against 2005 levels.

Rasmussen welcomed the China's emission cuts progress. He also agreed with Wen on adhering to the main role of the UNFCCC in future negotiations, Qin said.

China hoped Denmark, as chair of the Conference of UNFCCC Parties, would continue to play a positive role, Qin said, noting that the country would maintain contacts with Denmark.

In Tuesday's press conference, Qin also responded to a question related to UN climate chief's announcement of resignation.

Yvo de Boer has announced last week that he will resign his position as Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC as of July 1 this year.

Qin said de Boer had contributed positively in organizing and serving the international negotiations on climate change since assuming his current post in 2006.

China had cooperated well with the UNFCCC secretariat, and supported de Boer's efforts, Qin said. He said he hoped that de Boer would continue his contribution to tackling climate change in his new job.

De Boer would be joining the consultancy group KPMG as Global Adviser on Climate and Sustainability, as well as working with a number of universities, according to a statement by the United Nations.