Seoul | The United States and China have agreed to fight climate change “with the seriousness and urgency that it demands” by stepping up efforts to reduce carbon emissions, a rare demonstration of co-operation amid escalating tensions over a raft of other issues.

The agreement, which included few specific commitments, was announced late on Saturday Washington time (Sunday AEST), after President Joe Biden’s climate envoy, John Kerry, visited China for three days of talks in which the negotiators managed not to be sidetracked by those disputes.