China greenhouse gas emissions soar 50% during 2005-2014 - government data

FILE PHOTO: A man wearing a mask waits for a taxi amid heavy smog in Beijing, China, November 28, 2015. REUTERS/Jason Lee

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions hit 12.3 billion tonnes in 2014, up 53.5% in just a decade, the environment ministry said on Monday, citing the country's latest carbon "inventory" submitted to the United Nations.

China's carbon emissions data is notoriously opaque, but as a signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Beijing is obliged to submit an official inventory to the UN on a regular basis. It has previously released figures for 2005 and 2010.