The fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to prepare a global legally binding instrument on Mercury (INC4) was held in Punta del Este, Uruguay, from 27 June to 2 July 2012. As an important role, the Chinese delegation, taken the lead by MEP (Ministry of Environmental Protection), attended the session and participated in all substantive discussions on the basic elements of every topic in mercury documents, deeply and comprehensively. The members of Chinese delegation were from MEP, MOFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), NDRC (National Development and Reform Commission), MIIT (Ministry of Industry and Information Technology), CPCIF (China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation), PKU (Peking University) and THU (Tsinghua University), etc.

Lei Li, head of the Chinese delegation and Deputy Director-General of the Department of Pollution Prevention and Control, MEP, clarified China’s fundamental principles to the world. It was that, the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR) was the foundation of the negotiations, and meanwhile, financial and technical supports from developed countries were key factors which could promote other discussions. As Li appealed, all the developed countries should realize and understand the significance for developing countries to get supports on finance and technology. China hoped all parties would reach a consensus soon, and make comprehensive progress of the negotiation.

The Foreign Economic Cooperation Office, Ministry of Environmental Protection of China (MEP-FECO) took charge of 7 topic-discussions. They were supply and trade, artisanal and small-scale gold mining, products and processes, financial resources and technical and implementation assistance, awareness-raising, research and monitoring and communication of information, atmospheric emissions.