Representatives from Brazil, South Africa, India and China (BASIC countries) met in Beijing on Tuesday to seek consensus on climate change issues to pave the way for the Durban climate change conference at the end of the year.

BASIC countries will publish a joint statement Tuesday evening.

As a part of the developing world, BASIC countries hope to reach consensus on climate change through candid and deep discussions to lay the groundwork for the upcoming Durban conference, Xie Zhenhua, vice minister of the National Development and Reform Commission, also China's chief negotiator of climate change talk, said at the opening ceremony.

Brazil's representative asked developed countries to meet their commitments, providing developing countries with more financial and technical aid to cope with climate change.

Representatives of the countries of Group 77, island countries and the Arab League also attended the meeting.

The Durban climate change conference is scheduled for November. The focus of the conference is expected to be the extension of the Kyoto Protocol and getting the commitment of developed countries for the protocol's next period.

The Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from 2008 to 2012.