A cooperation project between China and Canada on the clean development mechanism (CDM) was launched in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region on Sunday.

This is the first Chinese region to devote to the reduction of greenhouse gas with donations from Canada, said Lu Xuedu, a research fellow of the Rural and Social Development Department under the Ministry of Science and Technology, at a ceremony held Sunday in Yinchuan, capital of Ningxia.

The CDM, defined in the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change signed in Japan in 1997, is a new international cooperation system, under which, the developed countries provide funds and technical assistance to help developing countries in reducing emissions of harmful greenhouse gases.

Statistics showed, 80 percent of the carbon dioxide in the world are produced by developed countries. Consequently, the developed countries should shoulder principal responsibility for global climate changes.

Canada plans to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases by six percent in the 2008-2012 period. It seeks international cooperation to attain this target.

Ningxia is one of the earliest region in China to implement the CDM program. The region, rich in energy resources, provides ample opportunity in CDM development.

(Xinhua News Agency May 10, 2004)