The two sides signed a joint declaration on climate change that calls for a "partnership" to enable more cooperation and dialogue on clean energy and sustainable development.

It will see the Europeans give China a coal-fired power plant that emits relatively small amounts of greenhouse gases, giving Chinese engineers a model to copy when they build their own power stations.

"One of the amazing things when you come to China is to realise that every month, they are building the equivalent of a significant large power station," said British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

"Once their consumption rises - and the Chinese economy is growing very, very strongly - the impact on climate change is going to be enormous," he said in an interview with British broadcast media.

"Therefore, bringing the Chinese into a proper dialogue with ourselves and the United States (on climate change) is incredibly important."

Monday's joint declaration on climate change sets a deadline of 2020 for China and the European Union to develop "advanced, near-zero emissions coal technology through carbon capture and storage".

The two sides committed themselves, also within 15 years, to "reduce significantly the cost of key energy technologies and promote their deployment and dissemination".

Coal was once the number-one source of energy in Europe, and it remains so in China, which along with India was invited by Blair to the Group of Eight summit of industrialised powers in July to discuss climate change.

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