The clean coal-power plant design uses carbon technology through which the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide is captured by the coal plant and buried in porous rock underground for long-term storage.

The offer was announced at the EU-China summit in Beijing this week and is part of a wider agreement that "will include cooperation on the development, deployment and transfer of low carbon technology, including advanced near-zero-emissions coal technology through carbon capture and storage", according to a joint EU-China statement.

The agreement outlines concern in the EU that attempts by developed nations to reduce greenhouse emissions will be undercut by rampant industrial growth in developing nations. By supplying advanced emissions technology, the EU hopes these nations can develop within an environmentally responsible framework.

British prime minister Tony Blair hailed the agreement as cementing a "dialogue" between Europe and China on climate change, with Blair also targeting India to take a role in the global warming debate at an upcoming EU-India summit in New Delhi.

The agreement has received widespread support from environmental groups, which believe the six-nation Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development & Climate announced in July lacked focus, with the actual provision of technology in the EU proposal hailed as a sign of concrete action aimed at arresting climate change.