China appoints new environmental protection minister

China has appointed Chen Jining, a scientist in ecological studies, as its new environmental protection minister, replacing Zhou Shengxian.
Chen, 51, was appointed as Communist Party chief of the Ministry of Environmental Protection in late January, paving the way for his formal installation as minister, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
China has also removed its longtime climate negotiator Xie Zhenhua, who headed climate negotiations team since 2007. The period was regarded as a difficult time due to massive rise of pollution levels in the country as it emerged as the top emitter of green house gases along with the US.

He reportedly stepped down after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 65.
Last November, China signed a landmark agreement with US to take ambitious action to limit greenhouse gases.
Under the agreement, US intends to achieve an economy-wide target of reducing its emissions by 26 per cent- 28 per cent below its 2005 level in 2025 and to make best efforts to reduce its emissions by 28 per cent.
For its part, China intends to achieve the peaking of CO2 emissions around 2030 and to make best efforts to peak early and intends to increase the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to around 20 per cent by 2030.