
China is now building about two power stations every week, the top climate change official at the UK Foreign Office, John Ashton, has said.
He said there was no point blaming China for rising global CO2 emissions.
Rich nations had to set an example of low-carbon development for China to follow, Mr Ashton told the BBC.
His statement came as a Dutch think tank reported that China had already overtaken the US as the world's biggest emitter of CO2.
The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency said China's CO2 emissions rose by 9% last year, compared to 1.4% in the US.
"There is also a moral case. Most of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have been put there by developing countries without the constraint of having to worry about the climate. That means we should bear the leading edge of responsibility."
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