Xie Zhenhua, China’s special envoy for climate change affairs, during COP28 in Dubai Photo: Shan Jie/GT

The Chinese and American teams have worked together to support the success of COP28, which was also one of the goals of the previous joint climate statement between the two countries, Xie Zhenhua, China's special envoy for climate change affairs, said on Wednesday. The two countries are expected to update their respective nationally determined contributions (NDCs) in line with the requirements of the Paris Agreement and the results of this first-ever global stocktake.

During COP28, China and the US agreed that following the requirements of the Paris agreement and also the suggestions made in the outcome for the first global stock take, China and the US will respectively evaluate their respective long-term strategies for climate action, and then based on that, update their NDCs, so as to better implement the Paris agreement, Xie said at a press conference along with US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry.

Xie looked back the Sunnyland climate agreement jointly released by China and the US in mid-November, the two main goals of which were to support a successful COP28 in UAE and to enhance exchanges and cooperation between China and the US.

"Here in Dubai, we have already fulfilled part of what we agreed in Sunnyland, which is working together to promote a successful COP28. When the negotiations were getting stuck, we worked together and provided some joint proposals to unlock the deadlock in the negotiations and facilitated the success of the COP," Xie noted.

He said that China and the US also agreed to launch joint working groups on climate change between the two countries as soon as possible, including areas such as energy transition, circular economy, methane, and low-carbon sustainable provinces, states, and cities. "The four working groups should step up their activities to implement our respective NDCs and to promote multilateral processes," he said.

Kerry said at the press conference that the Paris Agreement and the global stocktake both emphasize the importance of developing and updating long-term strategies to reduce emissions and enhance resilience. "Two years ago, the United States and China agreed to submit updated long-term strategies at the Glasgow COP. We did exactly that. Today, we are announcing our joint intention to revisit and update our long-term strategies going forward. I wanted to highlight this commitment and take the opportunity to thank you for the efforts we have made together."

The two are old acquaintances as climate envoys, and Xie also extended his personal best wishes to Kerry, who celebrated his 80th birthday during COP28. "I feel so lucky that I can make such a good friend like Secretary Kerry. We have been friends for over 20 years. I hope we can continue to work together to make this world a better place," he said.

"My eight-year-old grandson asked me, 'Why are you still working so hard at your age?' I replied, 'Because we are all passionate about this common cause of addressing climate change.' And I believe with our younger generations, this cause will be carried forward generation after generation. Our cause must be sustainable," Xie said with a smile.