The 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity has been rescheduled to be held in Kunming, Southwest China's Yunnan province, from May 17 to 30 next year, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment announced on Tuesday.

The conference was originally scheduled for Oct 15 to Oct 28 in Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan, one of China's provinces richest in biodiversity.

However, preparation for the conference has been delayed because of the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic and COP15 cannot be held on time, said Liu Youbin, spokesman for the ministry, at a press conference held in Beijing.

He said the Chinese government has cooperated closely with the secretariat of the conference and rescheduled the conference to next year.

He added the Chinese government has been paying great attention to preparations for the conference and will put in the effort to make COP15 a success. In addition, the Chinese government will keep up with the latest news about the COVID-19 outbreak and release information in a timely manner if any change or adjustment has to be made to the schedule.

The conference next year will formulate a global biodiversity framework for post-2020 and set goals for global biodiversity between 2021 and 2030.