China and the United States Thursday agreed to cooperate on a broad range of climate change science and technology activities at the end of the third meeting of the China-US Working Group.

The three-day meeting of the working group was conducted under the February 2002 agreement between Chinese President Jiang Zemin and US President George W. Bush to undertake consultations to explore common ground and areas for cooperation on climate change.

According to sources with the meeting, both sides recognized the importance of sustainable development in addressing the issue of climate change and the key role of economic growth in this regard.

The two sides identified 10 areas for cooperative research and analysis: non-CO2 gases, economic/environmental modeling, integrated assessment of potential consequences of climate change, adaptation strategies, hydrogen and fuel cell technology, carbon capture and sequestration, observation/measurement, institutional partnerships, energy/environment project follow-up to the World Summit on Sustainable Development, and existing clean energy protocols/annexes.

The two sides further agreed to continue policy exchange and to review results of joint project cooperation. The fourth meeting of the working group will take place in the United States in May 2003.

(Xinhua News Agency January 16, 2003)