Kerry was greeted by Wang at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on the third day of a visit to China that ends tomorrow.

The two shook hands and exchanged opening remarks before beginning a meeting, the AFP journalist said.

“Cooperation on climate change is advancing under the overall climate of China and the US, so we need the joint support of the people of China and the US,” Wang told Kerry, who he described as an “old friend”.

“There is a need for a healthy, stable, and sustainable Sino-US relationship,” he added.

Climate talks between the two biggest greenhouse gas emitters came to a halt last year after Nancy Pelosi, then speaker of the US House of Representatives, enraged Beijing by visiting self-ruled Taiwan, which China considers to be part of its territory.

Kerry, a former secretary of state, has enjoyed comparatively cordial and consistent relations with China despite Washington and Beijing locking horns over Taiwan and other issues.

He met his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua in Beijing yesterday, with the two men speaking for around four hours, state broadcaster CCTV said.

Both countries “must take urgent action on a number of fronts, especially the challenges of coal and methane pollution”, Kerry wrote in a tweet after the talks.

“The climate crisis demands that the world’s two largest economies work together to limit the Earth’s warming,” he added.

Beijing said after the talks that “climate change is a common challenge faced by all mankind”.