US Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke are visiting China this week to urge the country to work together with the United States to combat global warming. The two Chinese-American cabinet officials will meet with Chinese leaders in Beijing to emphasize the benefits of reducing greenhouse gas emissions for both countries and the world. This visit is seen as a precursor to President Barack Obama's upcoming trip to China, where experts hope the focus will be on joint US-China efforts to address climate change before the Copenhagen meeting in December. Cooperation between the largest developed and developing countries is crucial for the success of a new global climate treaty. According to Kenneth Lieberthal of the Brookings Institute, the potential for collaboration is significant and the need for action is urgent. "It's not a situation where one side benefits while the other side pays." China has recently become the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases, surpassing the United States. However, its per capita emissions are still lower. Chu, a Nobel physicist with a focus on climate change, is expected to advocate for US and Chinese collaboration to address global warming in a speech at Tsinghua University in Beijing. He warned US senators about the unprecedented threat of climate change to our way of life, comparing it to a climatic shift as significant as the Ice Age but in the opposite direction. Locke, a former governor from Washington, aims to demonstrate opportunities for China to reduce emissions using US renewable technology such as solar, wind, and water power. A Commerce Department official stated that there are significant market opportunities for companies in China due to a high demand, but also acknowledged the challenges. China heavily depends on coal for its energy needs, while the United States has abundant coal reserves and also relies on coal for a portion of its energy needs. Both countries have a strong incentive to work together on technologies to capture and store carbon dioxide emissions underground, rather than releasing them into the atmosphere. David Sandalow, assistant energy secretary, emphasized the importance of this collaboration in a pre-trip interview with Reuters. "We believe that by working together rather than separately, we can accomplish more." The US is paying attention to China's efforts to build new nuclear power plants. President Obama is urging Congress to pass a bill to reduce US greenhouse gas emissions, with pressure to also get China to agree to emission caps at the Copenhagen meeting in December. Without China's commitment, it is unlikely that a new climate change treaty will be approved by the US Senate. Stuart Eizenstat, the lead US negotiator for the 1997 Kyoto climate treaty, which the US never ratified, emphasized the importance of cooperation with China for a positive outcome in Copenhagen. Chu and Locke will not be going to Beijing for talks on a bilateral climate deal, but the US hopes that closer collaboration with China will help in achieving a favorable result at the Copenhagen meeting, according to Sandalow. China, along with 16 other major world economies, recently agreed to aim for limiting the global temperature increase to no more than 2 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels. However, China has declined to establish a short-term emission reduction target, citing its recent industrialization and the need to prioritize growth and urbanization efforts in a country where many people live in poorer conditions compared to the West. Despite this, China's latest five-year plan includes a goal of reducing energy intensity by 20 percent by the end of 2010 and aims to have renewable energy account for 15 percent of total demand by 2020. Eizenstat suggested that the Obama administration should encourage Beijing to turn these goals into enforceable global agreements as a starting point. He also stated that China will eventually need to commit to limiting emissions, but it is unlikely to happen at the upcoming December conference in Copenhagen.