John Kerry, the United States’s special envoy on climate, has arrived in China to revive efforts to combat global warming amid weeks of record-setting heat in the northern hemisphere that scientists say is being exacerbated by climate change.
Kerry’s four-day trip, which began on Sunday, follows two other high-level US visits to China this year as the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters work to stabilise a relationship strained by trade disputes, military tensions and accusations of spying.
Starting on Monday, “China and the United States will have an in-depth exchange of views” on climate issues, state broadcaster CCTV said on Kerry’s arrival in Beijing.
The envoy’s bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua will focus on issues including reducing methane emissions, limiting coal use, curbing deforestation and helping poor countries address climate change.
Kerry and Xie, who have cultivated a warm relationship over more than 20 years of diplomacy, will also likely discuss China’s objections to US tariffs and other restrictions on imports of Chinese solar panel and battery components, observers say.
Kerry is the third top US official after Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to visit China this year to try to reestablish a stable bilateral relationship.
Original from www.aljazeera.com