US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry testifies before a House Foreign Affairs Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee hearing on the State Department's climate budget, on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 13, 2023. (Photo: REUTERS)

The talks follow two other high-level US visits to China this year, as the world's largest greenhouse gas emitters work to stabilize a relationship strained by trade disputes, military tensions and accusations of spying.

John Kerry, the US special envoy on climate change, arrived in Beijing on Sunday for talks with his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua from Monday through Wednesday. The talks will focus on issues including reducing methane emissions, limiting coal use, curbing deforestation, and helping poor countries address climate change.

Republicans have accused the Biden administration of being too soft on Beijing in climate diplomacy, arguing that China continues to increase its greenhouse gas emissions while the US imposes costly measures to clean up.

Kerry is the third US official after Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to visit China this year to try to reestablish a stable bilateral relationship. Both countries say they should be able to collaborate on climate change regardless of other disagreements.

Li Shuo from Greenpeace in Beijing said the scheduled talks showed climate change "is still the touchstone for the most important bilateral relationship of the world."

Talks between the US and China have a history of boosting global climate negotiations, including setting the foundation for the Paris climate accord in 2015, when governments agreed to limit the industrial-era rise in global temperatures to 1.5 C.