Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao left Beijing for the climate summit in Copenhagen, Denmark on Dec. 16, when pessimism and disappointment were simmering among negotiators, who, after about 10 days' bargaining, found a bridge to span their rift seemed a mission impossible.

"It will be a tough task. Now I can feel how heavy my duty is to attend the meeting on behalf of the Chinese government," Wen told reporters aboard his plane en route to Copenhagen.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao speaks at the leaders' meeting of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, Dec. 18, 2009. [Xinhua]

Nevertheless, Wen said he was confident that the talks would bear fruit. "As so many world leaders are gathered there, I believe there should come some achievements," he said. "No matter what the result is, China's action plan will not change, its voluntary reduction target will always be non-negotiable, and its determination in hitting the target will never waver."

 

WHIRLWIND TALKS WITH WORLD LEADERS

Premier Wen's schedule on Dec. 17 was almost fully occupied by meetings with world leaders.

During the meeting with Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, Wen suggested that in order to achieve an outcome for the conference, all parties should stick to the consensus they had reached while leaving differences for future negotiations. "Now it seems to be the only way out. If we can reach a resolution of such a kind, it could well be an achievement of the talks," Wen said.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (R) shakes hands with UN Secrerary-General Ban Ki-moon during their meeting in Copenhagen, capital of Denmark, on Dec. 17, 2009.[Xinhua]

In his talks with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who expressed that a fruitless conference would be unacceptable, Wen proposed to formulate a political document that may reflect the consensus of different parties.