Yang told reporters that China's per capita emission of the gases linked to global warming remained less than one third the average in developed countries.

"It's like there is one person who eats three slices of bread for breakfast, and there are three people, each of whom eats only one slice. Who should be on a diet?" he said at a press conference on the sidelines of parliament.

"If per capita energy consumption is viewed in the context of the fundamental principle that people are all born equal, then I don't think some people are justified in talking about the large emissions of China, as if they have the moral high ground."

China's greenhouse gas output has soared in recent years as its largely coal-powered economy has expanded at double-digit pace, and it now ranks alongside the United States as the world's biggest emitter.

However China has a population of more than 1.3 billion people, compared with around 300 million in the United States.

"China's aggregate emission is large. This is because China has the largest population in the world, but China's per capita emission level is very low," Yang said.

He also repeated China's long-held position that developed countries are mainly responsible for the climate change problem.

"Climate change is mainly attributable to the long-term emissions by developed countries in the past and their current high per capita level of emissions," said Yang.

Yang also indicated that a large part of China's emissions was the result of manufacturing products that eventually are bought by consumers in Western countries, leading to what he termed "transfer emission".

"I hope when people use high-quality yet inexpensive Chinese products, they will also remember that China is under increasing pressure of transfer emission," he said.

United Nations scientists and environmentalist have warned that, regardless of who is to blame, there will be devastating consequences for the world unless all countries take urgent action to fight climate change.

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