AKIPRESS.COM - China is preparing to announce plans to launch a national system to limit greenhouse gases and force industries to purchase pollution credits, Obama administration officials said Thursday.

Beijing plans to put the system, known as cap-and-trade, into place in 2017 as part of measures aimed to address climate change in cooperation with the U.S. and others, reports ABC.

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

Word of Beijing's intentions was first reported by The New York Times and the Reuters news service.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity so they wouldn't pre-empt China's official announcement, said it's hoped the announcement will give impetus to a broader global treaty on climate change at a Paris conference in December.

The announcement will also cover components of the cap-and-trade strategy, including the individual sectors covered under the plan, which range from power production to papermaking, the officials said. Those sectors produce "a substantial percentage of China's climate pollution," one official said.

Cap-and-trade sets an annual limit on the amount of pollution that can be produced, then requires firms to obtain permission to pollute by purchasing credits from less polluting industries.

Other parts of China's announcement will include prioritizing low-carbon and efficient electricity production.