EU-China green co-op working well: EU official

BRUSSELS -- European Union (EU) and China share similar views over the development of green economy and cooperation of the two sides in this field is working well, said an EU senior official on Tuesday.

China has recognized the significance of the green orientation of its economy, which is not only necessary, but also could be "profitable", European Commissioner for the Environment Janez Potocnik told Xinhua on the opening ceremony of EU's 11th Green Week.

The year 2011 is the first year of implementation of both the "Europe 2020" Strategy and the China's 12th Five-Year Plan, which are equally concerned about environmental issues and set long-term sustainable growth targets.

The Chinese 12th Five-Year Plan stresses the need to reduce the environmental costs of development and calls for building a resource-efficient and environment-friendly society. Similarly, the Europe 2020 Strategy aims at encouraging a shift towards a resource-efficient and low-carbon economy.

"There are many things on which we believe that we can share our views. We very much cooperate inside all the international conventions, I have pretty regular meetings with representatives of the Chinese government and I could say this relation is working really well," continued  Potocnik.

Europe set specific targets in terms of energy production, efficiency and consumption, which would reduce 60 billion euros ($84.6 billion) worth of oil and gas imports by 2020. The Chinese 12th Five Year Plan also set concrete objectives, such as raising the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to 11.4 percent and introducing an environment-based evaluation system.

"China has understood there is a need for an efficiency revolution," commented Professor Ernst von Weizsacker, a member of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) International Resources Panel.

The 11th Green Week, the biggest annual conference on European environment policy, would last till Friday.