China rubbishes Trump's climate change "hoax" claims

Donald Trump's claims that the issue of climate change was created by China in order to stifle US competitiveness have been rubbished by the country's vice foreign minister, during UN talks in Marrakech on Wednesday.

Government officials from 200 countries have been gathering in the Moroccan city this week for discussions on the environment, but is still unclear whether president-elect Trump will keep the US in the Paris Climate Agreement, which came into effect just this month.

"If you look at the history of climate change negotiations, actually it was initiated by the IPCC with the support of the Republicans during the Reagan and senior Bush administration during the late 1980s," Liu Zhenmin told reporters during a briefing.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was initiated in the 1980s and supported by US presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush Sr, before China had even recognised the issue, the minister claimed.

He also added that an increased focus on clean energy technology will actually benefit US companies. "That's why I hope the Republican's administration will continue to support this process," Liu said.

Trump spouted a raft of jibes towards China during his election campaign, hinting that he would rip up trade agreements and vastly cut cooperation between the two countries, in order to focus on boosting employment numbers domestically.

However, he has exhibited a much calmer demeanour since he claimed victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton last week, and it is now unclear how many of his controversial policies he will push ahead with.