China has urged President Barack Obama to increase the U.S. offer to reduce carbon emissions, but their top climate envoy expressed a willingness to compromise at a U.N. conference in Copenhagen. Xie Zhenhua stated that China aims to be constructive at the climate talks in December, emphasizing the importance of an agreement between the U.S. and China, as they are responsible for a significant portion of global greenhouse gas emissions. Xie hopes that President Obama can make a substantial contribution to Copenhagen, beyond his current proposal of a 3 percent cut on 1990 levels by 2020. Additionally, Xie mentioned that China would be open to accepting a target to halve global emissions by 2050 if developed countries increase their emissions reduction goals by 2020 and provide financial assistance to developing nations to combat climate change. "We acknowledge the significance of having a long-term goal, but we believe that focusing on a mid-term target is more crucial in addressing the immediate issues. If we can meet the demands of developing nations, we can then consider setting an emissions target to reduce global emissions by half by 2050. The deputy chairman of the NDRC expressed his desire for developed countries to reduce their emissions by 25-40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. He hopes that these emissions cuts will fall within the range of 25-40 percent below 1990 levels." Earlier this year, during previous rounds of U.N. talks, China had strongly advocated for a reduction of "at least 40 percent." Xie expressed his preference for a final, legally binding agreement to be reached during the meeting in Copenhagen, but stated that if that was not achievable, having a deadline to finalize a comprehensive treaty by June would be satisfactory. He dismissed a U.N. suggestion for fast-track funding of $10 billion annually from 2010-2012 as inadequate.