US top climate official to visit China for climate talks

John Podesta, senior advisor to the United States president for international climate policy, will visit China from Wednesday to Friday, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment announced on Tuesday.

During the visit, Podesta and Liu Zhenmin, China's special envoy for climate change, will co-chair the second meeting of the two countries' working group on enhancing climate action in the 2020s, as agreed by the two countries, the ministry said in a media release.

It was highlighted that the two sides will engage in thorough discussions regarding practical cooperation within the Sino-US working group, domestic climate policy initiatives in each country, and the multilateral climate change process.

China and US reached a consensus to establish the working group during the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, aka COP26, in Glasgow, United Kingdom, in 2021.

According to a joint declaration of the two countries released during the conference, the two sides will meet regularly to address the climate crisis and advance the multilateral process, focusing on enhancing concrete actions in this decade.