China to hold Asia climate change meeting in 2008

SINGAPORE, Nov 21 (Reuters) - China will hold a meeting in Beijing next year for Asian countries to discuss climate change, as it faces the risk of more droughts and floods and seeks common ground on a potential successor to the U.N. Kyoto Protocol. China's Premier Wen Jiabao, speaking about China's position on climate change at a summit of East Asian leaders in Singapore, reiterated a pledge to reduce energy consumption per unit of GDP by 20 percent in five years.

"At this meeting, we propose to East Asian countries to hold a symposium in China next year on coping with climate change," Wen told reporters in Singapore.

Hosting a symposium would be a rare sign that China is seeking international leadership on an issue that it says is largely the responsibility of rich nations, even though it is battling rampant air and water pollution.

Japan will propose incentives at the summit to cut pollution in China, which according to the International Energy Agency was the world's top carbon dioxide emitter this year.

Experts say dealing with the effects of climate change will be a major problem for Asia. Nations will meet in Indonesia next month to try to work out a successor to Kyoto.

(Reporting by Kevin Yao, writing by Neil Chatterjee)