China's foreign ministry said today it hoped upcoming talks with the European Union could resolve a dispute over the region's airline emissions fee scheme, a day after it said Chinese airlines were banned from participating in the programme.
The comments come less than a week before Chinese and EU leaders hold a summit in Beijing, with the EU looking to China to dip into its huge foreign exchange reserves to help it tackle a debt build-up that threatens economic stability on the continent.
The tussle over the emissions scheme, which could levy charges for carbon emissions from flights in and out of Europe, has also drawn ire from other countries, including the United States and India. They argue the EU is exceeding its legal jurisdiction by calculating the carbon cost over the whole flight, not just Europe.
Reuters