US, China pledge cooperation amid competition

By Sara Schonhardt | 05/10/2024 04:01 PM EDT

White House climate adviser John Podesta and his Chinese counterpart, Liu Zhenmin, met in Washington this week to hash out clean energy and climate issues.

Liu Zhenmin

China's climate leader Liu Zhenmin, pictured in Singapore on April 28, 2016. Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images

The U.S. and China agreed to cooperate on elements of their clean energy transitions and other climate-related matters during a two-day meeting in Washington that ended Thursday.

That includes boosting technical and policy exchanges as they work toward accelerating the deployment of renewable energy needed to drive down coal-fired power, particularly in China.

It was the first face-to-face meeting between the two countries’ new climate diplomats — White House climate adviser John Podesta and his Chinese counterpart, Liu Zhenmin — marking a new era in their engagement.

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The meeting also came amid rising tensions between the world’s two largest climate polluters over trade and economic competition — tensions that have threatened to complicate efforts at greater climate cooperation.

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