China on Sunday praised the outcome of the Copenhagen climate summit, but warned there was still a long way to go towards addressing climate change.
"Due to the efforts of all parties, the meeting achieved an important and positive result," Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi was quoted as saying in a statement on the Foreign Ministry website, dpa reported.
Yang praised the level of international cooperation at the summit, and said there was "strong political will to face challenges."
But he also warned that dealing with the impacts of climate change would be a long process.
"Copenhagen is not the end, but a new starting point," the ministry quoted Yang as saying.
The statement went on to reiterate China's opposition to mandatory emission reductions for developing nations and to the linking of financial aid to international verification of mitigation measures.
"China's emission reduction targets are scientific and reasonable, without any conditions, not linked to the targets of other countries, but also not negotiable" the ministry said, referring to comments made earlier by Premier Wen Jiabao.
China praises Copenhagen climate summit result
