China’s Xi Jinping likely to take part in Joe Biden’s Earth Day climate summit

Ahead of the virtual talks, US climate envoy John Kerry is expected to travel to Shanghai to meet Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua

Climate change is an area where the two powers have said they could work together amid deepening tensions

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President Xi Jinping addresses a virtual climate summit of more than 70 world leaders in December. He is expected to attend the Earth Day talks on April 22 and 23. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 11:00pm, 12 Apr 2021Updated: 11:45pm, 12 Apr 2021

Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to attend a two-day virtual summit on climate change hosted by his US counterpart Joe Biden next week.

Xi’s participation in the Earth Day summit on April 22 and 23 will put the focus on whether the two biggest carbon-emitting nations can open up a narrow path to cooperation amid a deepening rift.

A person familiar with the situation told the South China Morning Post that Xi was expected to attend the summit, and ahead of that, US climate envoy John Kerry was expected to travel to Shanghai to meet his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua this week.

Kerry’s trip, first reported on Sunday by The Washington Post, would be part of the former secretary of state’s tour through India, the United Arab Emirates and Bangladesh but could still be called off, according to the newspaper, citing sources.

Xie Zhenhua has been China’s top climate diplomat for over a decade. Photo: Reuters

Xie, reappointed as China’s special climate envoy in February, has been a long-serving climate diplomat and was the country’s chief negotiator on the Paris Agreement signed by nearly 200 nations.

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