China going forward on climate pact

Official says US waffling on issue has no bearing on what Beijing will do

China's special envoy on climate change reaffirmed on Tuesday the nation's commitment to its 2015 Paris pledge, even if domestic policies in the United States change.

"A retreat from the Paris pact may drag down the pace of the US to fulfill its pledges, but it has no impact on China," Xie Zhenhua, a veteran climate change negotiator who has participated in United Nations climate change conferences, said at a news conference after the BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change closed in Beijing on Tuesday.