China: We’ll clear the air with Bam

WASHINGTON — Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Washington Thursday to meet with President Obama and announce a capandtrade system to deal with the Asian nation’s staggering pollution problem.

China will announce plans Friday to launch a national system to limit greenhouse gases and force industries to purchase pollution credits, according to US officials.

Beijing plans to put capandtrade into place in 2017 as part of measures aimed to address climate change in cooperation with the United States and other nations.

A statement to be released following Friday’s summit between Obama and Xi aims to flesh out how their two countries plan to achieve targets, set at a bilateral summit in Beijing last year, for cutting emissions.

Meanwhile, Obama is expected to discuss other issues such as Chinese computer hacking, brazen maritime expansion and humanrights abuses during the talks.

The USChina relationship has had its ups and downs for decades, even as the two nations have become increasingly connected as global economic powers.

In a reflection of the importance of the relationship, despite the fury in Washington at some of China’s actions there will be plenty of pomp to mark the meeting — with an elaborate 21gun salute at the White House Friday and a formal state dinner.

A particularly charged topic will be the hacking — which Washington attributes to China — of 21.5 million records of federal employees, former workers and job seekers.

“It’s a matter of whether our businesses can have the confidence that they can operate in China or operate globally without being subjected to cyberintrusions that seek to steal their intellectual property,” said nationalsecurity adviser Ben Rhodes.

The United States also wants to discuss China’s audacious actions in the South China Sea, where Beijing has been building artificial islands in disputed areas, raising tensions with its neighbors and US naval operations.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest mentioned those incursions, along with recent volatility in China’s economy, as issues that will come up, along with China’s “reluctance to effectively tie their currency to market rates.”