China to ratify Paris climate change deal by September: envoy

Reuters
Pedestrians walk across a bridge in front of a chimney billowing smoke from a coal-burning power station in central Beijing February 25, 2011. REUTERS/David Gray

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - China, one of the world's top emitters of greenhouse gases, pledged on Friday to ratify the Paris deal to slow climate change by September, China's Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli said on Friday. "We will make early accession to the Paris agreement. China will finalize domestic legal procedures on its accession before the G20 Hangzhou summit in September this year," Zhang told a signing ceremony for the Paris deal at the United Nations. (Refiles to correct second reference of Chinese premier's name to Zhang in paragraph 2) (Reporting by Michelle Nichols, editing by Louis Charbonneau)