china-environment.jpgFile photo shows the wind power turbines in Dali, Yunnan province. In China's Yunnan province, power is being produced at wind farms, dams, and garbage dumps as the Asian giant adopts more "green" technology. (LIU JIN/AFP)

BEIJING, November 12, 2009 (AFP) - China should cut its carbon intensity by four to five percent each year from 2005 baseline levels, state media reported Thursday, citing a proposal by a leading government-led think tank.

The proposal comes ahead of a key meeting in Copenhagen next month where China -- now the world's top emitter of greenhouse gases -- will face pressure from rich nations to make firm commitments to combat climate change.

President Hu Jintao told the UN General Assembly in September that China would reduce carbon intensity -- greenhouse gas emissions per unit of GDP -- by a "notable margin" by 2020 from their 2005 levels, without giving a figure.

The China Daily report said experts at the China Council of International Cooperation on Environment and Development were to submit their proposal to the government, and were to be received by Premier Wen Jiabao on Friday.

The proposal says a four-five percent cut each year would be needed if China hoped to achieve its low-carbon development goal by 2050, and would see carbon intensity "fall by between 85 and 90 percent by the middle of the century".

The China Daily said it was the first time a high-level organisation had made concrete proposals on emissions reductions since Hu's September speech.

The group is made up of about 200 experts including some of China's top environmental protection officials and economic planners, as well as analysts from overseas.

"If China is to meet the target of year-on-year emissions cuts of between four and five percent, it will need to reduce energy intensity by between 75 and 85 percent by 2050," the newspaper cited the report as saying.

"In addition, the proportion of manufacturing industry within the national economic structure would need to be cut from the current 50 percent to around 30 percent by the middle of the century," it added.

China and India have said rich nations bear historic responsibility for climate change and should not compel developing nations to commit to emissions reduction targets that could compromise their economic growth.

China set the goal of improving energy efficiency by 20 percent per unit of GDP from between 2006 and 2010.