BONN, Germany (Reuters) - China has filled some of the void on climate change leadership left by U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to quit the 2015 Paris climate pact by curbing its own greenhouse emissions and it has done so without seeking to dominate the talks, delegates said.

Cooling towers emit steam and chimneys billow in an industrial zone in Wu'an, Hebei province, China February 20, 2017. Picture taken February 20, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Some nations had expected Beijing would be more active in making proposals at the Nov. 6-17 talks among almost 200 nations to push its views that the rich should be doing far more to cut greenhouse gas emissions and to provide finance to poor nations.

But its delegation has acted broadly in line with past meetings on climate change, other delegates say, championing the cause of emerging nations and pointing to its domestic programs to limit carbon dioxide emissions.

“They were rather quiet in the meetings,” one senior European negotiator said at the talks. “Their focus is very much on action at home.”

“China has been pretty much the same as always,” echoed Ian Fry, who represents the Pacific Island of Tuvalu. “I don’t think they tried to fill the space left by the U.S.”

The talks, which made progress on detailed rules for the Paris agreement, are the first since Trump decided in June to pull out of the pact, handing Beijing a chance to reflect President Xi Jinping’s drive for a bigger global role.

Trump, who doubts that climate change is caused by man-made greenhouse gases, plans to promote domestic coal and oil. Under the terms of the Paris accord, a U.S. pullout will take until 2020.

Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impacts, said China has to work out how to balance its need for more fossil fuel energy to fuel economic growth with conflicting demands to curb air pollution and climate change.

“I don’t think they were in a position to make bold claims in Bonn,” he said. The Paris Agreement seeks to cut emissions to limit a rise in temperatures to avert heat waves, floods, storms and rising sea levels.

Beijing has traditionally seen itself as a leader only of emerging economies, arguing that the United States, the European Union and Japan have to lead in making cuts because they have emitted most greenhouse gases since the Industrial Revolution.

Still, the basic design of the Paris agreement was hammered out by U.S. President Barack Obama and Xi in 2015. With Washington leaving, many predicted clear Chinese leadership.

LARGELY RHETORICAL?

“I’ve heard that point (about China taking over), I think it’s largely rhetorical,” said George David Banks, a Trump advisor on energy and the environment attending the Bonn talks.

He noted that China’s goal under the Paris Agreement was to peak its carbon dioxide emissions by 2030.

“Is that leadership in climate mitigation? At the same time the United States continues to reduce its emissions ... We have been a global leader,” he said. “It’s about actions, not words.”

U.S. emissions peaked about a decade ago but Trump opposes Obama’s pledge to cut them by between 26 and 28 percent by 2025 from 2005 levels, saying it would harm U.S. competitiveness.

China says it needs to use more energy to lift living standards for its 1.3 billion population and still places the burden squarely on the rich to cut emissions.

“Before 2020 we hope developed countries can implement the consensus we have reached in the past,” said Xie Zhenhua, China’s lead climate official at the talks. “China has taken better actions than we are asked to do.”

Many delegates predict that China will reach a peak in carbon emissions years before 2030 and praise its actions to shift from coal to solar and wind power.

“The fact is that China is going all in on renewables with something like $361 billion in investments expected by 2020,” said Thoriq Ibrahim, Energy and Environment Minister for the Maldives and Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States.

“If leadership is defined by action, then China is way out in front,” he told Reuters.

Mohamed Adow, of Christian Aid, said that many nations were stepping up actions. “We’re seeing distributed leadership across the world. The days when you look to one country to lead the transition are gone,” he said.

Among other nations in Bonn, the European Union’s efforts to fill the U.S. gap have been held back because German Chancellor Angela Merkel is locked in negotiations on forming a coalition, where she is faces pressure to do more to phase out coal.