Chinese President Hu Jintao called in Gleneagles on Thursday for more North-South and South- South cooperation in world development and climate change.

Hu made the call at a dialogue meeting between the Group of Eight (G8) leaders and leaders from China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico, held here Thursday after they condemned serial blasts in London.

Addressing the meeting, President Hu said the world faces unparalleled opportunities and many challenges following world multipolarization, and marked advance of science and technology, urging the leaders to join hands to create a brighter future.

The Chinese president made a four-point proposal in this regard:

-- To make concerted efforts to maintain a steady world economic growth. To this end, we should commit ourselves together to take effective fiscal and monetary policies, readjust our economic structures and promote a balanced and sustained development of the world economy.

-- To step up policy consultation and push for solutions to the deep-rooted problems that impede world economic development. "We should facilitate reforms to international financial institutions, back up the development of the multilateral trading regime and cultivate a fair, just, reasonable and open trading environment and work together to stabilize the international energy market and create an adequate, secure, cost-effective and clean energy environment for world economic growth."

-- To carry out result-oriented cooperation to implement the Millennium Development Goals. Developed countries should come up with workable plans to make good on their pledges concerning funding, debts and market access. Developing countries should actively promote structural reforms and adjustment at home to create a better environment for development.

-- To deepen North-South dialogue aimed at establishing a new type of partnership. North-South dialogue should be conducted on the basis of equality, flexibility, pragmatism and consensus building in a bid to strive for a win-win result by drawing on each other's strong points and going for mutually beneficial cooperation.

The Chinese president said more attention should be given to the development of Africa and the developed countries should honor their promise of aid and debt relief.

China would continue to support and help African countries, he noted.

On climate change, the president said the question is both "an environment issue and development issue" but "in the final analysis, falls in the category of development."

"Though countries differ in perceptions of the problem and in choices of the countermeasures, they share a basic consensus for cooperation, dialogue and concerted efforts in meeting the challenges brought by climate change," he said.

"To enhance international cooperation in climate change, it is necessary first to uphold the guiding role of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol and observe such principles as 'common but differentiated responsibilities' enshrined in the Convention," he added.

President Hu said China is a "responsible developing country," and China has taken a series of policies and measures to mitigate greenhouse gas emission in tackling climate change.

"We have stepped up efforts to readjust the economic structure, transform the mode of economic growth, rein in energy-guzzling industries, and build towards a national economy that is structurally resource-effective and energy-effective," he said.

"China is now working on a national strategy on climate change to keep up efforts at greenhouse gas emission reduction while working with other countries to actively address the issue of global climate change," he stressed.

Prior to the meeting, the leaders joined British Prime Minister Tony Blair to adopt a statement, condemning terrorist attacks in London. Blair then left for London to tackle the emergency.

Source: Xinhua