China says carbon "sinks" not covered by target

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's top climate envoy said on Thursday emissions absorbed by carbon "sinks" will not be covered by the country's carbon intensity target, which will be calculated using energy consumption and "production processes."

Xie Zhenhua, deputy head of the powerful National Development and Reform Commission, said that China's newly announced target would be calculated on a more narrow basis than the emissions goals of developed nations.

"China's reductions are all the emissions reductions from energy intensity (cuts), they don't include the quantity in carbon sinks, and they don't include other reductions, they are only the savings from the production processes and energy consumption," he told a news conference in Beijing.

(Reporting by Chris Buckley; Writing by Emma Graham-Harrison; Editing by Paul Tait)