The sector-based decisions in Bali Action Plan have made "cooperative sectoral approaches and sector-specific actions" one of the most promising ways to achieve substantial progress in technology transfer. This paper makes a more fundamental examination of the intrinsic characteristics, ongoing mitigation efforts, and mitigation difficulties and barriers in China's principle energy-intensive sectors, hoping to lay a foundation of using "cooperative sectoral approaches and sector-specific actions" to enhance international technology development and transfer. It is found that great mitigation achievements had been made in coal-fired power generation, cement and aluminium sectors through various policies. About 420 million tons (Mt), 234 and 48 Mt of CO2-e have been reduced, respectively, from 2001 to 2007. However, factors such as fast-growing development needs, low-quality resources and carbon-intensive energy mix, huge disparities within sector, poor technology, equipment and financial status of plants, low level of employers' abilities as well as huge social costs are causing big difficulties and barriers to further mitigate sectoral greenhouse gas in China. Therefore it is strongly advocated that the existing and possible new sectoral approaches try to consider these factual barriers as comprehensively as possible. Finally the paper concludes with two fields Of future work to do. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.