This was the comment made by US Special Envoy on Climate Change John Kerry to Chinese Communist Party Foreign Affairs Commission head and Politburo member Wang Yi during a meeting in this capital.
For his part, the senior Asian diplomat reiterated the need for a healthy, stable and sustainable relationship between China and the United States that will have a positive impact on the rest of the world.
Describing Kerry as an “old friend,” Wang recalled that they previously “worked together to resolve a number of issues between the two parties.”
Earlier, the US official held an extended meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua, with whom he discussed the challenges of coal and methane pollution, among other things.
Kerry assured that the world’s two largest economies have the opportunity to face this phenomenon together and constructively.
Among the objectives of this visit, which will culminate tomorrow, is to promote a successful COP28, modeled after the UN Climate Change Conference, due to take place in the United Arab Emirates in November and December this year.
In fact, this event is the first formal assessment of countries’ progress towards the Paris Agreement target of limiting climate change to 1.5 degrees Celsius (34.7 Fahrenheit).
Kerry arrived in Beijing at a time when heatwaves — accompanying climate change — are setting record numbers around the world, particularly in China, the United States and Europe.
Additionally, the special envoy is the third senior official in the Joe Biden administration to arrive at the Asian giant in less than two months, following visits by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Experts are interpreting the exchange as an attempt by both sides to ease deteriorating bilateral ties, which have peaked over disagreements over issues such as Taiwan, human rights and economic warfare.
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