China has submitted a plan to drastically cut co2 emission by 2030 to the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change on Tuesday.

Under the plan, it promised to cut such emissions per unit of GDP by 60 to 65 percent from 2005 levels, the announcement came as Chinese premier Li Keqiang was in Paris for an official visit to France – the presidency of this year’s climate summit.

"China's carbon dioxide emission will be curbed by around 2030 and China will work hard to achieve the target at an even earlier date," Li said in a statement after meeting French President Francois Hollande in Paris.

The statement also said that China pledged an increase in non-fossil energy sources to represent at least 20 percent of total energy by 2030; and a target to increase the forest coverage by around 4.5 billion cubic meters from the 2005 level.

In a statement, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed China's formal submission of post-2020 climate change targets or Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC), saying "China’s submissions represent an important contribution to building momentum and strengthening prospects for reaching a new and meaningful climate change agreement at COP-21 (the UN Climate Change Conference) in Paris at the end of the year."　

Jennifer Morgan, the Global Director of the Climate Program at the World Resources Institute told People’s Daily that China’s submission reflects the unswerving commitment to solve the climate problem.

Given China's clean energy policies over the past 10 years and the investment in the relevant areas, China was believed to have the ability to achieve its goals set for 2030. Actually, in the new wind and solar power, China has been ahead of many other countries in the world.

Research analysis shows that with continuous efforts, China might fulfill the goal before 2030, which is not only beneficial to China, but also to the whole world.

According to germanwatch.org, China, as one of the developing countries, will spare no effort in investing in environmental protection. Christopher Baars, political department director of the organization told People’s Daily, "Chinese government's policy and determination in cutting down carbon dioxide emissions and transform its energy structure is very impressive."

Professor Hicks, who works on ecology and environmental protection from University of Leicester told People’s Daily that the target China has made in its plan was in line with China's actual conditions.

China’s climate plan (INDC) not only talks about achievements, but also pointed out the specific measures to be . It also plans the ways how China is to address climate change.

Ronnie Lins, who focuses on Brazil's financial sector, is an international affairs expert at Brazil-China Economic Exchange Center. He told People’s Daily that the Chinese government in recent years makes great efforts to promote ecological progress and control greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution.

By submitting the plan to cut co2 emission, China, as world's second largest economy, will not only improve its image as a growing super power, but also contribute to improving the global environment .

The article is edited and translated from the Chinese version of 《明确减排目标 展现大国形象》，source: People’s Daily