Scenery of Solomon Islands Photo: IC

China will further strengthen cooperation with Pacific island countries (PICs) in tackling climate change, as China considers PICs to be one of top priorities in climate issues cooperation, the country's environmental protection authority noted on Thursday.

"China has carried out South-South cooperation on climate change for a long time, and has done its best to help other developing countries improve their ability to cope with climate change," Li Gao, general director of the Department of Climate Change of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) of China, told the Global Times at Thursday's press conference of the MEE.

"Pacific island countries are one of the priorities of China's cooperation in addressing climate change," he said.

At present, China has signed five project documents on material assistance for climate change South-South cooperation with four PICs including Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, and Kiribati, according to Li.

China has also held four phases of training to help build climate change response capacities under its cooperation with PICs. Nearly 100 professionals from PICs have been trained to deal with climate change so far.

Li revealed that the following fifth round of training will be held in December. Meanwhile, China will further strengthen and expand its cooperation with PICs to help the island countries boost their capacities to confront climate change.

"At the same time, in the multilateral field, China is also strengthening communication and coordination with PICs to jointly safeguard the common interests of developing countries, Li noted.

In April, the China-Pacific Island Countries Climate Action Cooperation Center was launched, which is expected to enhance close exchanges and practical cooperation between the countries involved. 

In September, the China-Pacific Island Countries meeting on tackling climate change was held in Beijing. China's special envoy for climate change, Xie Zhenhua, exchanged views with diplomatic envoys from PICs including Tonga, Fiji, Micronesia, the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Samoa, and Vanuatu. 

The envoys touched upon topics including policy action and the expected outcomes from the 27th Session of the United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP27), as well as South-South cooperation on climate change, Li introduced.