"Some progress has been made, but the industrial countries are reluctant" to transfer technology that could reduce pollution, Ji Zou told AFP while attending a UN climate conference here on Thursday.

"Their position is not positive enough," said Ji, a Chinese government point man on climate change since 1997.

"We are missing opportunities for clean construction, clean production," said Ji.

China has seen explosive economic growth in recent years and has become the second-leading producer of greenhouse gases behind the United States, increasing its emissions by 80 percent since 1990.

Much of the increase has been due to the amount of electricity generated through coal, according to the Canadian-based Pew Center research organisation.

However, as the country continues its breakneck development there are also opportunities to adopt pollution-saving technologies in building construction, transport and agriculture, as well as energy production.

Ji proposed creating an international fund that would supervise and finance technology transfers for environmental protection.

"The current mechanism cannot meet the (demand). We need to establish a new innovative mechanism," he said.

Many industrialised nations are unlikely to embrace such an option out of concern for protecting intellectual property, however.

Ji especially called on the United States and the European Union to do more on the issue.

"All the industrialised countries have to (make) further efforts," he said.

Despite China's growth, the country faces a lack of resources when dealing with environmental issues, he noted.

"We want to contribute substantially to climate protection," he said, but added "700 million Chinese are rural, poor, badly informed. It is a developing country."

China's need to develop is another reason given for why the country should not be obliged to reduce production of greenhouse gases, as industrialised countries currently are, in a second round of commitments following those under the Kyoto Protocol.

The country's rapid development and poor data also make it difficult to make reliable predictions on greenhouse gas emissions, he said.

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.