Beijing, China - US climate envoy John Podesta will visit China this week for talks with his counterpart Liu Zhenmin, ahead of the COP29 summit in Azerbaijan in November.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV announced the visit on Tuesday. They said that the two officials will, "have an in-depth exchange of views on practical cooperation."

AFP cited CCTV as saying that Podesta and Liu will discuss, "their respective domestic climate policy actions and the multilateral process on climate change."

Neither the US State Department nor Podesta have confirmed that the meeting will take place this week.

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Liu and Podesta last met in Washington in May to discuss cooperation on reducing methane.

According to a statement put out by the State Department, the May meeting detailed, "energy transition, methane and other non-CO2 greenhouse gases, circular economy and resource efficiency, deforestation, and low-carbon and sustainable provinces/states and cities."

In particular, a second "Methane and Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gases Summit" was announced for COP29, with both sides committing to "bilateral cooperation."

The US-China working group made clear following their May meeting that a particular focus will be put on methane, which is the world's second most potent greenhouse gas, according to the EPA.

Over the last 200 years, methane levels have doubled due to human activity, making it a critical cause of global warming and a threat to global sustainability.

In June, US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns spoke with China's climate envoy Liu Zhenmin, emphasizing the risk of deforestation and the risk of methane.

"I discussed the need for progress on climate change with PRC Special Envoy for Climate Change Liu Zhenmin," Burns said on X.

"We hope to address deforestation and accelerate the pace of the U.S.-China sub-working groups on the green energy transition & methane and non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions."