China Welcomes U.S. Climate Change Bill: Official

China's chief climate change official says China welcomes a U.S. climate change bill and hopes it would take stronger measures to cut carbon emissions.

Xie Zhenhua is deputy chief of the National Development and Reform Commission.

"We feel that there should be a careful analysis of this legislation. We hope we can see some stronger more assertive action on the part of the American government, as they're dealing with climate change issues, in particular emission issues, this will give more momentum to the talks in Copenhagen at the end of this year."

The bill, named the American Clean Energy and Security Act, is intended to cap and reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and lower the country's dependence on foreign oil.

Xie Zhenhua also called for all countries to protect intellectual property rights of those pioneering new developments in climate change, but at the same time said that countries should also exchange ideas to reduce emissions.