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A face off between the world’s largest greenhouse-gas spewers has taken center stage at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali, and China appears to be winning its public-relations battle with the U.S.

China has reiterated it will not consider mandatory emissions cuts until the U.S. and other industrialized countries such as Canada embrace a less-extravagant lifestyle. The U.S. is standing pat in its opposition to mandatory limits.

Although both countries have dug in their heels, China, which many believe has already surpassed the U.S. as the world's top emitter of heat-trapping gases, is now seen as playing a constructive role on global warming after years of dodging the issue.

In that scenario, the U.S. is losing friends fast.

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NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) - The United States has invited major economies to Hawaii next month for a new round of talks about setting goals to curb greenhouse gas emissions, a senior U.S. official said on Thursday.

The White House sent invitations on for the meeting of 17 major economies, which account for more than 80 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, said Harlan Watson, the chief U.S. climate negotiator. The United States held a first round of the talks in Washington in late September.

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VIENNA - Curbs needed to fight global warming could be less drastic than a 50-percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 favoured by the European Union, the United States' chief climate negotiator said on Monday.

President George W. Bush agreed at a summit in Germany with his main industrial allies in June that UN climate reports showed that "global greenhouse gas emissions must stop rising, followed by substantial global emission reductions".

However, the text of the agreement did not define "substantial".