Visiting Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said on Thursday in Beijing that climate change and environmental issues will be high on the agenda of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum to be held in September in Sydney.

"We want climate change and environmental issues more broadly to be a central part of the APEC agenda," Downer told a briefing at the end of his four-day trip to China.

Australia will chair this year's APEC forum.

Established in 1989, the APEC is the most important economic cooperation organization in the Asia-Pacific region and has held a summit each year since 1993.

Downer said Australia would "work intensively with China on developing clean coal technology, because by 2030, 70 percent of China's energy will still be generated by coal-fired power stations."

"China is the world's largest coal producer and Australia is the world's largest coal exporter, and by working together on clean coal technology, we can make quite a significant difference, " he said.

Before the briefing, Downer held talks with his Chinese counterpart Li Zhaoxing, which also involved discussions on the environment and climate change.

Downer said Australian aid to China was a "major effort to help China increase energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas and sulfur dioxide emissions."

Downer also met with top officials in Beijing including Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong. The four-day tour also took Downer to China's economic hub Shanghai.

Source: Xinhua