Brussels - Developed and developing economies alike should accept specific targets for reducing their greenhouse gas emissions at UN negotiations in Copenhagen in December, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday.

"What I'm hoping for is to have as tight a regime (as possible), with measurable benchmarks and accountability, with specified outcomes," she said after talks with top European Union officials in Brussels.

But given the different levels of economic development in the world's major economies, "there will be different approaches that contribute" within the overall scheme, she said.

That applies both to the difference between the US and China, and to the difference between developing powers such as China and Indonesia, she stressed.

Clinton was talking days after a visit to Asia, including China. And she said that she was "heartened" by China's willingness to push for a global deal on fighting climate change in Copenhagen.

"It's very important that, at the beginning of this effort, China has expressed a willingness to participate ... They understand that they've got to be part of the solution," she said.

According to US figures, China recently overtook the US as the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases. However, China's per- capita emissions are still a fraction of those in the US.

Debate therefore focuses on how much China should be obliged to limit its emissions growth in the coming decades, and how much funding Western states should give to the developing world to help them adopt low-emissions technology. (dpa)