China welcomes U.S. climate cash offer

China said on Thursday a U.S. pledge to mobilize $100 billion a year in climate funds was a “good step,” and signaled Beijing was seeking compromise with Washington on its demand for checks on Chinese emissions curbs.

But Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei, bearing a message from Premier Wen Jiabao, warned that the U.N.-led negotiations in Copenhagen were at a critical stage and could be wrecked if the 193 countries taking part didn’t pull together.

The Dec 7-18 summit is officially due to wrap up a new deal to tackle global warming on Friday, but rifts between rich and poor nations over everything from funding to which draft deal should be on the table, have made for agonizingly slow progress.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tried to break the deadlock on Thursday with a pledge to help mobilize the $100 billion a year by 2020 to assist poor nations shift to greener growth and adapt to a warmer world.

Reuters