China, one of the world's biggest polluters, has become one of the main victims of worsening global warming, while its image and credibility are at stake in an uphill battle to cut greenhouse gas emissions, according to a top environmental official.
But Pan Yue, a deputy director of the State Environmental Protection Administration (Sepa), rejected intense criticism of China's ineffective pollution controls and its refusal to set limits on carbon dioxide emissions, which already rank second in the world after the US.
'The Chinese people have already realised through first-hand experience that climate change is not a scientific prediction any more, but an existing reality,' he said in an interview.
'How to deal with the reality is a test of whether China can become a responsible power and a stakeholder in the future of the world.'
While China is expected to overtake the US in two years to become the world's top emitter of greenhouse gases, it has already paid dearly in frequent natural disasters and extreme weather events related to global warming.
China loses about 300 billion yuan a year in disasters related to the weather, such as droughts, typhoons, and glacial retreat, Mr Pan said.
