Xu Shisen, chief engineer at the science and technology center of state-owned China Huaneng Group, the country's biggest utility, said policy makers were likely to wait until carbon capture and storage (CCS) had been tested on a commercial scale before offering any substantial policy support.

"In the near term, a large-scale demonstration project has to be set up, whether in China or elsewhere," he told reporters on the sidelines of a conference.

CCS covers various technologies aimed at stripping climate-warming carbon dioxide (CO2) from burning fossil fuels and burying it. The International Energy Agency has identified the approach as one of the crucial components in the global fight against climate change, particularly in China.

Overseas utilities like Duke Energy and American Electric Power, facing possible CO2 abatement bills at home, are counting on Beijing to lead the global effort to develop CCS, but Xu said it was still too early to tell whether or not the technology was commercially viable.

"It's meaningless right now to talk about commercialization, no matter what country you are in. Once demonstration projects are up and running after 2015, the U.S. and Chinese governments can make policies and decide on subsidies," he said.