U.S. climate envoy John Kerry to visit China as talks pick up again

cnbc.com:

BEIJING — John Kerry, special presidential envoy for climate, is set to visit Beijing from July 16 to 19, according to announcements from the U.S. and China.

«During meetings with [People's Republic of China] officials, Secretary Kerry aims to engage with the PRC on addressing the climate crisis, including with respect to increasing implementation and ambition and promoting a successful COP28,» the U.S. State Department said in a statement.

Kerry's trip will mark the third time in a month that a high-level U.S. official has traveled to China for talks.

Although the meetings have yet to yield specific action, they mark a resumption of in-person communication that fell off due to the pandemic and geopolitical tensions.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen ended a four-day trip to Beijing on Sunday. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Beijing in late June, months after he was originally scheduled to travel there in February.

Blinken postponed his initial plans after news of an alleged Chinese spy balloon over U.S. airspace. Beijing claims it was a weather balloon that blew off course.

While Blinken's trip to China led to a general agreement on the need to increase flights between the two countries, the secretary of State said he failed to reinstate military-to-military communication.

«It's clearly in the interest of both countries to avoid any kind of miscalculations, especially military,» Blinken said in an interview Tuesday with MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell, according to a State Department transcript. «So that's something we'll continue to look for.»

Blinken added the «lengthy discussions» he and Yellen had covered where the U.S. and China have «deep differences,» as well as areas of cooperation. «That's going to continue,»