China repeats stance against proposed carbon tariffs

BEIJING, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- China on Wednesday repeated its stance against proposed carbon tariffs, which would contain the development of global trade, according to Ministry of Commerce spokesman Yao Jian.

China firmly opposed the carbon tariffs proposed by some individuals and international organizations as they ignored the fact that developing and developed countries were in different stages of development and should shoulder different responsibilities and obligations, Yao said.

However, Yao did not specify the names of the individuals and organizations.

He made the comments in response to questions during a press conference while releasing China's November foreign direct investment, which rose 31.97 percent year on year to 7.02 billion U.S. dollars.

The concept of "carbon tariffs," initially proposed by former French President Jacques Chirac, has been echoed by the United States, Canada and the European Union. They proposed imposing carbon tariffs on countries that do not make efforts to reduce emissions.

In June, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on climate issues that contained carbon tariffs, which would allow the president to impose duties from 2020 on imports of carbon-intensive goods such as steel, cement, glass and paper from countries that have not taken measures to cut their own emissions.