Climate cooperation to help ties, Hu tells Obama

By Emma Graham-Harrison

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese President Hu Jintao has told his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama that closer cooperation on fighting climate change could help improve overall ties between the world's top two greenhouse gas polluters.

Hu also said he was optimistic about U.N.-led talks on a new global framework to tackle climate change, even though the latest round of negotiations ran into trouble.

"Developing cooperation between the two sides on climate change issues would not only benefit the international community in its efforts to tackle climate change, but also have great significance for promoting the development of China-U.S. ties," the official Xinhua news agency quoted Hu as saying.

The leaders spoke by telephone on Wednesday morning Beijing time. Hu said "the two sides face common challenges in the field of climate change, and shared common interests".

Obama is due to make his first presidential visit to China next month, when he will also attend the APEC regional summit in Singapore and visit Japan and South Korea.

Officials have touted climate change as an area where both sides have much to gain from working together and much to lose if they cannot reach a deal to limit the production of gases that scientists say are warming the atmosphere.

Beijing and Washington also face contention over trade, military plans, and human rights -- all issues likely to be discussed when Hu sits down with Obama in Beijing.