For evidence of China’s prominence at the United Nations climate summit in Brazil, look no further than the convention hall, where China boasts one of the largest pavilions, prominently located in the center next to the host country.

若论中国在巴西举办的联合国气候大会上的重要地位，只需看看会场就够了，中国在那里拥有大会规模最大的展位之一，占据着紧邻东道国展位的中心显要位置。

Before a fire tore through part of the Pavilion Hall on Thursday, throngs converged daily at China’s exhibition area to pick up panda-themed tote bags, listen to energy experts and admire displays of China’s global investments in clean energy: a solar farm in the Gobi Desert, battery storage in Saudi Arabia, transmission lines in Egypt and Brazil.

周四展馆部分区域发生火灾前，每天都有很多人涌向中国展位，领取熊猫主题手提袋、聆听能源专家演讲，同时驻足参观中国在全球清洁能源领域的投资成果展示，包括戈壁沙漠的太阳能电站、沙特阿拉伯的储能电池项目，以及埃及和巴西的输电线路工程。

China is on its way to becoming the first electrostate, leading the world in electricity generated by wind and solar power and selling that technology, along with electric vehicles, to much of the world.

中国正朝着全球首个电力主导型国家的目标稳步迈进，其风电和太阳能发电量稳居世界第一，同时向全球很多地方出口相关技术及电动汽车。

But behind closed doors in the negotiating rooms at the U.N. summit, where nations are wrestling with how to move away from fossil fuels, China has been mostly quiet.

然而，在联合国气候大会闭门谈判室内，各国围绕如何摆脱化石燃料展开激烈博弈，中国却大多时候保持沉默。

It is not stepping into the vacuum that was created when the Trump administration decided to pull the United States from the climate talks for the first time in 30 years. It has avoided strong positions on the need to prevent the planet from dangerously warming. It is not promising to more aggressively reduce the greenhouse gases it generates, nor is it pushing other nations to do so. And it has declined to offer more money to help poor countries cope climate change or to invest in effort to save tropical forests.

特朗普政府30年来首次退出气候谈判后留下了领导力真空，但中国并未选择填补这一空缺。它既未就阻止全球气候危险变暖这一关键议题表明强硬立场，也未承诺进一步加大温室气体减排力度，同时亦未敦促他国采取行动。此外，中国拒绝额外提供资金助力贫困国家应对气候变化或投入热带雨林保护工作。

As the world gathering headed into its final stretch, analysts said China was showing little interest in taking up the mantle of global climate leader.

随着这个全球大会进入最后阶段，分析人士指出，中国对接手全球气候领导者角色兴趣寥寥。

“It is frustrating,” said Natalie Unterstell, the president of Talanoa, a Brazilian climate research organization. “We would like to see a high-ambition China.”

“这令人失望，”巴西气候研究机构塔拉诺瓦总裁娜塔莉·翁特斯特尔说，“我们原本期待看到一个雄心勃勃的中国。”

One reason appears to be self-interest.

背后的一个原因似乎是自身利益考量。

The United Nations climate body classifies China as a developing country, even though it is the world’s second-largest economy. The Chinese have strongly resisted any change to that status, which would allow it to be grouped with rich, industrialized nations. That would put more pressure on China to enact deeper cuts in its greenhouse gas emissions or provide financial help to poorer countries struggling with climate disruption.

尽管中国已是全球第二大经济体，但联合国气候机构仍将其归类为发展中国家。中国坚决反对改变这一身份。若被划入富裕工业化国家阵营，届时需承担更大幅度的温室气体减排压力，还需向受气候问题困扰的贫困国家提供经济援助。

In the real world, the Chinese have provided billions of dollars in loans and grants to poorer countries to help them deal with climate change and to transition to renewable energy. But its delegation at Belém objects to any language that might result in the United Nations requiring, or even asking, it to provide such aid.

现实中，中国已向贫困国家提供了数十亿美元的贷款和无偿援助，助力其应对气候变化、向可再生能源转型。但在贝伦会议上，中国代表团明确反对联合国任何可能强制（甚至只是建议）其提供此类援助的表述。

When it comes to the most contentious issue in Belém, whether nations will enact a so-called road map for transitioning away from fossil fuels, China has been quiet, diplomats said.

外交官透露，本次贝伦气候大会最具争议的议题是各国是否制定摆脱化石燃料的所谓路线图，而中国在这一问题上始终保持缄默。

Even though China is currently the planet’s biggest polluter, it “has a strongly-held view that climate change is a problem caused by developed countries, and that they should lead the way,” said Kaveh Guilanpour, a vice president at the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, a nonprofit group that is following the negotiations in Belém.

尽管中国目前是全球最大污染排放国，但它“坚定认为，气候变化是发达国家造成的问题，理应由发达国家率先牵头解决”，追踪本次谈判的非营利组织气候与能源解决方案中心副总裁卡维·吉兰普尔表示。

南京长江沿岸的煤堆。

China’s own plan to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions has been criticized as insufficient. The European Union climate commissioner, Wopke Hoekstra, called it “disappointing,” and former Biden administration officials in Belém said it did not do nearly enough to limit dangerous warming.

中国自身的温室气体减排计划也被外界批评为力度不足。欧盟气候委员沃普克·霍克斯特拉称其“令人失望”，参会的前拜登政府官员也表示，该计划远未达到遏制危险升温的要求。

Representatives of the Chinese delegation did not respond to interview requests.

中国代表团未回应采访请求。

At the same time, China has enjoyed positive publicity merely by continuing to participate in the U.N. climate negotiations. It has also presented itself as stable partner in global discussions. The Chinese state-owned newspaper Global Times declared that the country had “become the defender of international cooperation on climate change.”

与此同时，中国仅凭持续参与联合国气候谈判就获得了积极舆论评价，更将自身塑造成全球对话中的稳定伙伴。中国官方报纸《环球时报》宣称，中国已“成为气候变化国际合作的捍卫者”。

Its leaders have chided both the United States, where the Trump administration is doing nothing to tackle climate change, as well as the Europeans, who are struggling to meet their promises to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions that are dangerously heating the planet.

中国领导人还对美国和欧洲提出了批评：特朗普政府在应对气候变化方面毫无作为，而欧洲各国则难以兑现减少导致地球危险升温的二氧化碳排放这一承诺。

“China is a country that honors its commitments,” Ding Xuexiang, China’s vice premier, said pointedly ahead of the formal deliberations.

“中国言必信，行必果，”中国国务院副总理丁薛祥在正式审议开始前明确表态。

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat who is the U.S. federal official to the talks in Belém, said China’s prominence at COP30 underscored how much the Trump administration is ceding the clean energy economy to Beijing.

出席贝伦会议的美国联邦官员、罗德岛州民主党参议员谢尔登·怀特豪斯表示，中国在第30届联合国气候变化大会上的突出地位，凸显出特朗普政府正将清洁能源经济的主导权拱手让给中国。

“They are clearly relishing being the primary economy and country present in our absence,” he said.

“在我们缺席时，他们显然享受成为首要经济体和主导国家的地位，”他说。

Environmental groups here have heaped praise on China and noted that the United States is the country that has added the most carbon dioxide to the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution and that, under the Trump administration, it is withdrawing from the 2015 Paris accord, the global agreement to fight climate change. At the same time, they point out, United States is increasing its use of fossil fuels.

参会的环保组织对中国大加赞赏，同时指出：自工业革命以来，美国是全球累计二氧化碳排放量最多的国家；如今，特朗普政府退出了2015年达成的全球应对气候变化协议《巴黎协定》；与此同时，环保人士强调，美国还在不断增加化石燃料的使用量。

“The largest historic polluter has exited the Paris Agreement,” said Avantika Goswami, who leads the climate program at the Centre for Science and Environment, a research group based in New Delhi. “We are seeing China be a leader.”

“这个历史上最大的污染排放国已经退出了《巴黎协定》，而我们看到中国正在发挥领导作用，”新德里科研机构科学与环境中心气候项目负责人阿万提卡·戈斯瓦米说。

China’s top issue in Belém has less to do with leading other nations and more with its own economic interests.

中国在贝伦气候大会上的首要议题，与其说是引领各国，不如说是维护自身经济利益。

Specifically, China wants to eliminate European and other tariffs it sees as a barrier to selling its solar panels, electric vehicles and other exports to global markets. And, it has argued here that if countries are serious about more quickly bringing down emissions, they should make it easier for China to sell its green products.

具体而言，中国希望解除欧洲等地区对其太阳能板、电动汽车等出口产品的关税壁垒。中国在会议上主张，各国若真心想加快减排进程，就应给中国绿色产品的全球销售创造更便利的条件。

“From a soft power perspective I don’t believe China has been ready to play a larger role or even to replace the vacuum left by the U.S.,” said Zou Ji, president of Energy Foundation China, an organization that works with the Chinese government on climate change issues, and a former member of China’s climate negotiating team.

“从软实力角度来看，我认为中国尚未准备好扮演更重要的角色，甚至没想过填补美国留下的空缺，”能源基金会中国区总裁邹骥表示。他曾是中国气候谈判代表团成员，该机构长期与中国政府合作推进气候相关工作。

Instead, he said, it is leading by selling solar panels, EVs and batteries cheaper and more accessible for the rest of the world.

他指出，中国的领导力体现在另一个层面：以更优惠的价格、更便捷的获取方式，向全球出售太阳能电池板、电动汽车和电池产品。

“China’s rise as a global economic and industrial power is unfolding far more rapidly than the pace of U.N. politics,” said Li Shuo, director of the China Climate Hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute.

“中国作为全球经济和工业大国的崛起速度，远远超过联合国政治的进程，”亚洲协会政策研究所中国气候中心主任李硕说。