US envoy seeks cooperation with China on climate crisis

BEIJING, China – U.S. climate change envoy John Kerry said cooperation with China is necessary to address the world’s climate crisis.

Kerry met for about four hours with his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua in Beijing. He said the world’s two largest economies must work together to limit global warming.

The two countries have resumed talks on combating climate change after a nearly year-long hiatus.

Kerry called for urgent action on a number of fronts, particularly on the challenges of coal and methane pollution. The two countries had suspended climate talks after then-U.S. Congress Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan last August.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Beijing would implement the spirit of the summit held by President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden in Bali, Indonesia, last November.

Kerry arrived in Beijing on Sunday. He is the third senior U.S. official to visit China in the past two months.

Analysts say Washington is trying to stabilize relations with Beijing, particularly talks on climate change, despite China’s strong reaction to Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.