Xi to join climate talks with Merkel, Macron before Biden’s Earth Day summit

Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend a climate change summit with France and Germany on Friday, as US climate envoy John Kerry spends a second day in talks with officials in Shanghai.

Xi will join the videoconference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron at the invitation of France, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Thursday.

They are among 40 world leaders invited by US President Joe Biden to a virtual Earth Day climate summit on April 22-23. Meanwhile, Biden’s envoy Kerry arrived in Shanghai on Wednesday to discuss cooperation on climate change with his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua ahead of the summit.

The Friday meeting will be closely watched as climate emerges as an area where China and the US could seek to cooperate but also compete for influence on the global stage, with the European Union navigating in the middle.

Xi said in September that China aimed to be carbon neutral before 2060 in what was seen as a nod to the EU – European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had proposed that as a benchmark for credible Chinese climate action at an EU-China summit in June.