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John Kerry, the US special envoy on climate change, arrived in Beijing on Sunday for talks with his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua from Monday through Wednesday.
The talks will focus on issues including reducing methane emissions, limiting coal use, curbing deforestation and helping poor countries address climate change.
Kerry had before the trip said he hoped to make progress on talks with China over reducing methane emissions, transitioning away from coal, combating deforestation and on jointly increasing the deployment of renewable energy technologies.
“What we want to do is find ways to see if China and the US can advance the cause together for the rest of the world by accelerating rates of doing things,” Kerry said. “And if we can make some progress on that, we think we can tamp down this edgy sense of competition which could lead to a mistake, which takes you to a place you didn’t mean to go to.”
Formal climate talks between the US and China were halted by Beijing in 2022 in protest at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan.