WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. climate envoy John Kerry on Wednesday said he plans to visit China in the coming weeks, one day after Chinese leader Xi Jinping said Beijing would not build new coal-fired power plants abroad as part of global efforts to combat climate change.
“I’m going to be going back to China somewhere in the next weeks,” Kerry, a former U.S. secretary of state now helping to lead President Joe Biden’s climate agenda, told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program.
He added he was confident Biden and Xi would also meet at some point but did not know when.
Kerry also reiterated his support for Xi’s coal announcement, saying it showed China was “really being serious” about tackling climate change and making China “a positive player.”
On Tuesday, Xi told the United Nations General Assembly it would no longer start coal projects https://www.reuters.com/world/china/xi-says-china-aims-provide-2-bln-vaccine-doses-by-year-end-2021-09-21 in other countries but offered no details.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)