China: Importers need to share blame for emissions

Countries buying Chinese goods should be held responsible for the heat-trapping gases released during manufacturing in China, one of its top officials said Monday.

The argument could place an even greater burden on the U.S. for reducing pollution blamed for global warming.

Li Gao, China's chief climate negotiator, said that any fair international agreement to curb the gases blamed for global warming would not require China to reduce emissions caused by goods manufactured there to meet demand elsewhere.

China has surpassed the U.S. as the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases. But 15 to 25 percent of its emissions are generated by manufacturing goods for export, Li said, according to a March 16 article in The New York Times.

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