China's greenhouse-gas emissions had not been expected to overtake those of the US for several years, although some had predicted it would happen as soon as next year.
But figures from the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency show China’s rising demand for electricity from coal and increasing cement production pushed China's recorded emissions for 2006 beyond those of the US.
The agency said China produced 6,200 million tonnes of CO2 in 2006, compared with 5,800 million tonnes from the US.
But per head of population, China's emissions remain fairly low, about a quarter of that of the US.
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