Xi, Obama talk climate deal on phone

Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Barack Obama applauded the agreement reached at the United Nations Climate Conference in Paris in a phone conversation on Monday.

Xi told Obama that the UN Climate Conference in Paris successfully reached the agreement thanks to the concerted efforts of the international community. He described the Paris agreement as pointing the direction and goal for global cooperation in fighting climate change post 2020, according to a press release posted on Chinese Foreign Ministry website.

Xi called it a great event that will benefit people all over the world.

"China, the United States and other relevant parties have kept in close communication and made positive contributions to the success of the Paris conference," Xi was quoted as saying.

He pledged that China is willing to coordinate and cooperate with relevant parties, including the US, to ensure the effective implementation of the Paris agreement, to actively explore the practical cooperation between the two nations in fighting climate change in order to benefit both the Chinese and American people as well as people of other nations.

Xi told Obama that China is willing to keep in contact and cooperate with the US on important global issues.

According to a statement from the White House on Monday, Obama expressed appreciation for the important role China played in securing the historic climate agreement in Paris on Dec 12.

The two leaders recognized the important contribution their joint announcement of climate targets in Nov 2014 made, as well as their joint statement on climate of Sept 2015, and the close coordination of their negotiating teams in Paris for securing the agreement.

President Obama emphasized the importance of continuing close US-China cooperation on climate change issues into the future, according to the White House.

It is widely believed that the China-US agreements on climate change in the past years have inspired the global community in fighting climate change.

chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com