China maintains it's a developing country amid calls to chip in to UN climate fund

Wealthy nations expected to set new global climate finance target at annual summit

- Ang Qing

China has maintained that it is still a developing country, amid growing international pressure for the world's second-largest economy to contribute to the United Nations' climate finance fund for poorer countries.

This assertion comes ahead of the COP29 climate talks from Nov 11 to 22, where the world's governments will be negotiating how much developed nations should contribute to global climate assistance.

Chinese government officials reiterated at a media briefing on Nov 1 that the world's biggest emitter of planet-warming carbon dioxide is a developing country.

"We are part of the Global South," said Mr Xia Yingxian, director-general of the climate office at China's Environment Ministry.

He said that China, which also leads the world in renewable energy installations, will be fielding 90 people to the UN climate meeting.

China is expected to come under fire at the event in Baku, Azerbaijan, for asserting its status as a developing country, which exempts it from contributing to the UN's pot to help poorer nations curb gas emissions and deal with the worsening extreme weather.

In September, the European Union's commissioner Wopke Hoekstra told Bloomberg that if China could go to the moon, it should be able to pay more for climate action.