China 'may set air quality targets'

For the first ever time, the Chinese government has revealed that it is considering setting air quality standards and capping its CO2 emissions in the future.

According to a member of China's climate change negotiating team Su Wei, one of the group's major considerations at present is the introduction of an emissions target from 2011 onwards.

Mr Wei explained that China's current energy reduction targets could be translated into "carbon dioxide limitation", the Guardian newspaper reports.

He added: "China hasn't reached the stage where we can reduce overall emissions, but we can reduce energy intensity and carbon intensity."

The news provider also states that another expert and government adviser Hu Angang has also recommended that China introduces standards to maintain air quality by 2020.

Following last year's Olympic Games, Beijing has permanently introduced a traffic control system to its streets which is designed to limit the number of cars allowed into the capital city on certain days of the week.