BEIJING (Reuters) - Global negotiations late this year need not specify greenhouse gas cuts for the United States and other rich countries, as long as they set the right note for later talks, a Chinese climate policy official said on Tuesday.

Gao Guangsheng, a leading official in China’s National Coordination Committee for Climate Change, told Reuters the negotiators in Copenhagen in December may not be able to agree on a full-fledged climate change pact, and may instead open the way for more specific negotiations as policy options mature.

"I personally hope that Copenhagen will reach an agreement with targets for developed countries and specific actions for developing countries," said Gao.

"But at present, to judge from the stances of various countries, it will be difficult to reach an agreement that satisfies everyone, for example, with developed countries cutting emissions by 40 percent."

In an interview during a China-U.S. clean energy forum in Beijing, Gao indicated flexibility on his government’s demands for the Copenhagen negotiations, which were spelt out in a document issued last week.

That flexibility could prove important as Beijing and Washington struggle to reconcile their demands, which will be crucial to the outcome of the talks.

Experts widely agree that China has passed the United States as the world’s biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas produced by burning fossil fuels that is trapping dangerous levels of solar heat in the atmosphere.

NO MANDATORY EMISSION CAPS

But Beijing says developing nations should not accept mandatory emissions caps to solve a global warming problem caused over centuries by wealthy countries, which still have much higher per capita emissions than poorer nations like China.

In its formal demands for Copenhagen, China said developed nations should vow to cut emissions of greenhouse gases by 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2020.

But Gao said that figure was an average goal for all developed countries, and the specific cuts to be adopted could be negotiated in Copenhagen and beyond.

"What we agree in Copenhagen can set that aside, but some principles can be agreed," Gao said of the 40 percent goal for rich countries’ emission cuts.

"Specifically whether it’s 40 or 30 or 20 percent or what, that may not be settled on first. As long as the United States says, ‘I should accept quantified emissions cuts’," said Gao.

Gao said he did not think the Copenhagen talks would fail if by then the U.S. Congress had failed to pass legislation setting out Washington’s commitments to reduce greenhouse gases.

The U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee approved a climate change bill on Thursday that would cut U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide by 17 percent from 2005 levels by the year 2020. But the bill is not certain to become law by the end of this year.

"I personally think that just because a bill of the United States hasn’t passed then Copenhagen will totally fail," Gao said, "as long as the United States is willing to make political commitments, for example, that it is willing to accept that developed countries should make quantified cuts in emissions."

China does not expect the Obama administration to have all its climate change policies lined up by Copenhagen, said Gao.

"I think Copenhagen may not be the final negotiation," he said. "It may set policy intentions so that we can keep negotiating."

PARIS- China won praise for moves to cap its surging greenhouse gas emissions at a meeting of major economies on Tuesday, even as Germany criticised the lack of progress towards a new United Nations climate treaty.

"China is very active," French Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo told reporters on the second day of the two-day meeting of 17 major emitters.

"Don’t be mistaken, China is in a programme to limit its rise of emissions with probably a peak at 2020 or 2025," he said at the meeting of emitters including China, the United States, the European Union, Russia, India and Japan.

Beijing has not set a peak year for its emissions, mainly from burning fossil fuels, which have been surging along with strong coal-backed economic growth. China says rich nations, struggling with recession, first have to make deep cuts.

Environment ministers are meeting in Paris to seek ways to share out the burden of curbs under a new U.N. climate treaty due to be agreed in Copenhagen in December, fearing inaction will mean more droughts, floods, disease and rising sea levels.

Germany said there was scant progress at the talks among nations which emit about 80 percent of all greenhouse gases.

"Everybody is coming here wanting progress but in the discussions we heard the old statements," Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel told Reuters. "There was not enough progress."

He said China was "very progressive", keeping up the trend from a meeting in Washington last month.

The meeting is second in a series of three meetings of the Major Economies Forum called by U.S. President Barack Obama to pave the way for a summit in Italy in July.

MEXICO

Germany’s Gabriel said Mexico outlined a promising idea under which all countries should contribute cash to fight global warming according to the size of their gross domestic product and their per capita greenhouse gas emissions.

That would mean poor countries with low emissions would get funds and rich, high-emitting nations would pay most.

France’s Borloo reiterated Obama’s plans to cut U.S. emissions were not enough.

"It’s not slanderous to anyone to say that — and I think the Americans know it," he said.

Borloo said developed nations as a group should guarantee 2020 cuts in greenhouse gases of between 25 and 40 percent below 1990 levels — the depth of cuts outlined by a U.N. panel of climate experts to avert the worst of climate change.

He said there should be flexibility to allow stragglers such as the United States to catch up.

Obama has promised to trim U.S. emissions back to 1990 levels by 2020, a cut of 14 percent from 2007 levels. A bill approved by a key congressional panel last week would cut U.S. emissions slightly more, by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020.

Germany’s Gabriel, who a year ago described President George W. Bush’s policies as "Neanderthal" for forseeing a peak in U.S. emissions only in 2025, welcomed a shift under Obama.

"The Americans have changed by 180 degrees. It’s a turnaround," he said, adding he also hoped for more.

The European Union has promised deeper cuts, of 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, and by 30 percent if other rich nations follow suit.

LDK Solar Co Ltd<LDK>, the world’s largest manufacturer of multicrystalline solar wafers, is considering extending its business downstream into the PV market to become a vertically integrated PV production firm, the Shanghai Securities News reported.

Peng Xiaofeng, founder and CEO of the wafer giant, said the company would not rule out the possibility of setting up JVs with global enterprises in the same industry to manufacture PV product components and systems.

In fact, last month, LDK Solar established a joint venture with Germany-based Q-Cells, the world’s largest manufacturer of PV cells, aiming to develop PV systems and expand in the markets in Europe and China.

The global PV market will expand because the prices of upstream PV materials will change due to the impact of global financial crisis, said Peng. The cost of solar power components used to be RMB 4 to RMB 5 per unit, but now is below RMB 2. When ordinary people can afford solar technology, there is gigantic business potential in the PV market, added Peng.

Last year, LDK Solar saw its revenue surge 214% from a year earlier to US$1.6 billion.

Xiangtan Electric Manufacturing Co Ltd<600416> announced today that it has been awarded two wind turbine contracts worth a total of RMB 1.59 billion.

The company said in a statement filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange that it will supply equipment for two Chengde wind power base projects in Hebei Province, including a 150,000-kilowatt wind power station in Fengning County and a 200,000-kilowatt wind power station in Weichang County.

One of the country’s four wind power equipment makers licensed to produce MW-class wind power equipment, Xiangtan Electric Manufacturing has made an effort to improve and diversify its wind technologies and will begin manufacturing wind turbine fans in the next two years.

According to the 11th Five-Year Plan of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s installed wind power capacity will reach 10 million kV, which means Xiangtan Electric Manufacturing will have a potential equipment market worth RMB 12 billion between 2007 and 2010.

Shanghai- China Huadian Corp., one of China’s leading power generators, has received approval from the Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission to start preparing the work sites of two new PV power projects, the company announced on May 26 on its Web site.

XINYU CITY, CHINA: LDK Solar Co. Ltd. (NYSE: LDK), a manufacturer of multicrystalline solar wafers, has entered into an agreement with ESPE Srl, a system integrator within the photovoltaic (PV) sector, to develop PV plants in the Apulia region of Italy.

Construction has commenced on the first of five plants totaling 5 MW. LDK Solar will supply wafers for the PV project and ESPE will provide engineering, procurement and construction services, as well as system integration.

Xiaofeng Peng, chairman and CEO of LDK Solar, said, "The PV market in Italy is one of the most interesting European markets and is forecasted to grow significantly over the next three years. Our agreement with ESPE is a strategic milestone for us as we strengthen our position in the PV power plants market in Europe and continue to build a foundation to capture future opportunities."

Siemens AG on Friday began construction of a new wind turbine manufacturing plant in Shanghai, the largest city in China, so as to further enhance its environmental portfolio by taking advantage of the Chinese government’s favorable policies for renewable energy development.

The plant is located in Shanghai’s Lingang New City, covering a land area of 180,000 square meters. The production facility will be operational with a wind power capacity of 500MW in the second half year of 2009. In the early stage, Siemens will produce blades for 2.3 megawatt and 3.6MW wind turbines in its production site in Lingang mainly for the Chinese market and for export. Wind turbine plant nacelles will also be produced in the plant.

It is estimated that Siemens will pour over EUR 60 million into the new production site. The company also reserved space in Lingang for further expansion to increase capacity to 1,500MW in the second phase and to 2,500MW in the third phase, said Martin Meyer ter Vehn, general manager of Siemens Wind Power Blades (Shanghai) Co.

This investment is in line with the company’s commitment of developing environmentally-friendly energy technology in China, said Mr Wolfgang Dehen CEO of the Siemens Energy Sector and member of the managing board of Siemens AG, adding that China will soon become the largest wind power market in the world and Siemens is making a very good start to meet the growing demand in this market.

The Chinese government requires that 70% of wind plant equipment should be made domestically, which has attracted many MNCs to set up plants in China. Local firms such as Shanghai Electric Group and Huayi Electric Co Ltd<600290> are building or planning for wind-power equipment plants in Lingang.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s top economic planning agency, will soon submit a draft of a stimulus plan for the new energy sector to the State Council for approval, the Shanghai Securities News reported on Saturday, citing Zhou Xi’an, an official with the National Bureau of Energy under the NDRC, as saying.

Zhou said at an energy forum in Beijing on Friday that the plan will be released soon since it has gone through discussion within the NDRC, but did not give a timetable.

The new plan will emphasize new energy and renewable energy, said Zhou, adding that the country will provide financial support for the research and development of technologies for nuclear and wind power facilities.

Zhou added that the country is mulling adjusting its nuclear power development plan to boost nuclear power development in coastal regions while planning nuclear power stations inland.

The China National Radio reported on Saturday that the nation hopes to increase the proportion of renewable energy excluding hydropower to over 6% from the current 1.5% of the total energy consumption. To do so, China will invest more than RMB 3 trillion in the new energy industry. The country’s wind power capacity is expected to top 100 million kW by 2020.

China now ranks fourth in wind power in the world with a total installed capacity of 12 million kilowatts, said Lu Yanchang, vice chairman of the China Science and Technology Association at the fifth China Energy Strategy Forum.

China’s wind power capacity is just behind the U.S., France, and Spain, said Lu, adding that wind power has become a major force in China’s new energy sector.

As of the end of 2008, China had built more than 200 wind power plants and had generated 12.8 billion kwh of electricity, accounting for 1.5% of country’s total electricity generation capacity.

During the period of the 11th Five-Year Plan, China will construct several large-scale wind power projects in the eastern coastal region and western and northern regions. By the end of 2020, China’s installed wind power capacity is expected to be between 80 million kw and 100 million kw.

China has abundant wind resources. Proven land wind resources total 253 million kw and coastal wind resources total 750 million kw.

Shanghai- Eastern China’s Jiangsu Province plans to create a fund to support its expanding solar power industry as part of the province’s renewable energy industry stimulus plan, a local government official told Interfax on May 25.