On April 22, 2016, Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, as special envoy of President Xi Jinping, met respectively in New York with President Francois Hollande of France and Secretary of State John Kerry of the US, who were attending the high-level signing ceremony of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

When meeting with Francois Hollande, Zhang Gaoli firstly conveyed the sincere greetings from President Xi Jinping. Zhang Gaoli spoke highly of the efforts made by the French side in hosting a successful UN Climate Change Conference in Paris. Throughout the preparatory process of and the negotiation during the conference, China and France always maintained close communication and coordination and carried out fruitful cooperation. The joint statement on climate change issued by the two heads of state last November, in particular, played a significant role in the adoption of the Paris Agreement. The UN Climate Change Conference in Paris is not only a milestone in global cooperation on climate change, but is also a new starting point. China is ready to, together with France, further promote the entry into force, follow-up negotiations and effective implementation of the Paris Agreement. As the rotating presidency of the 2016 G20 Hangzhou Summit, China will, together with France, push the G20 members to play a leading role in implementing the outcomes yielded from the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, and push forward the global cause of countering climate change. It is hoped that the two countries could maintain high-level exchanges to discuss on an effective alignment of China's major strategies like the "13th Five-Year Plan" and the Belt and Road initiative with France's development strategies such as "Industry of the Future" plan, as well as continuously deepen practical cooperation in nuclear power, aviation, sustainable development and other sectors, so as to push bilateral relations for long-term, sound and stable development.

Francois Hollande asked Zhang Gaoli to convey his best wishes to President Xi Jinping, expressing that France highly appreciates the contributions made by China in promoting the adoption of the Paris Agreement, and is ready to work together with China to take advantage of the G20 Hangzhou Summit and other platforms to actively promote the effective implementation of the agreement. France is full of confidence in China's economic development, and wishes to further strengthen cooperation with China in renewable energy, nuclear power, construction of new cities and third-party market.

When meeting with John Kerry, Zhang Gaoli expressed that President Xi Jinping and President Barack Obama held a successful meeting on the sidelines of the fourth Nuclear Security Summit held in Washington D.C. not long ago, reaching important consensus in deepening bilateral cooperation in various fields and managing and controlling differences in a constructive manner, and charting course for the development of China-US relations in the next stage. Both sides should plan well for bilateral high-level contacts and key institutional dialogues within this year, so as to ensure the realization of more positive results. As China-US cooperation in climate change constitute a highlight of bilateral relations, the two heads of state have issued three joint statements on climate change, and played key roles in securing the adoption of the Paris Agreement by the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris. All of these indicate that the two countries could achieve win-win results in dealing with global challenges through cooperation. The two sides should continuously maintain the sound momentum of bilateral cooperation, promote the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement, make use of multilateral platforms such as the G20 Hangzhou Summit to provide continuous impetus to the cooperation process on climate change, and push forward bilateral practical cooperation in climate change through such mechanisms as the China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue and the China-US Climate Change Working Group. China and the US share common interests and responsibilities in global energy security and development. It is hoped that the two countries could strengthen dialogue and deepen cooperation to contribute to the sustainable development of global energy.

John Kerry noted that China is a major country with important international influence, and the US-China relations are among the world's most important bilateral relations. Both countries have played vital roles in reaching the Paris Agreement through cooperation. The US would like to work together with China to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields.