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COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Prospects for a strong U.N. climate change deal grew more remote on Thursday at the climax of two years of talks, with developed and developing nations deadlocked on sharing cuts in greenhouse gases.

Dozens of heads of state were arriving in the Danish capital to address the December 7-18 conference, which is meant to sign a new pact to curb greenhouse gas emissions on Friday.

Ministers have struggled to craft a coherent text for the leaders to sign because they have so far failed to close a rift over how far the developing world should join industrialised countries in cutting carbon emissions.

A Danish proposal to break the talks into smaller groups to speed up progress foundered on opposition from poor countries, backed by top greenhouse gas emitter China, who feared their voices would not be heard. There was no progress overnight.

"We've got a serious situation. We squandered a full day,"

German environment minister Norbert Roettgen told Reuters.

China told participants it saw no possibility of achieving a detailed accord to tackle global warming, an official from another nation involved in the talks said early on Thursday.

The official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters the Chinese had instead suggested issuing "a short political declaration of some sort."