Beijing - Earlier today, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and President Hu Jintao to discuss energy and environmental issues. Indications are that the two sides will be pushing towards positive results together at the climate talks scheduled to take place in Copenhagen later this year.

The conversations with senior leaders were wide-ranging.

"We had productive discussions about how the United States and China can cooperate on improving international security, growing our economies and protecting the environment," Pelosi said in a statement released this afternoon. "We urged the Chinese leaders to use their influence to help bring North Korea to the table for Six-Party Talks. On clean energy and climate change, both sides agreed to work together to confront the urgent challenge we face. Our delegation also emphasized the bipartisan concern in Congress on China's poor record on human rights in China and Tibet."

Earlier in the day, the congressional delegation participated in a two-hour working session with the Chinese National People's Congress' Environmental Protection and Resources Conservation Committee.

"Our meetings this week reinforced the urgent need for the United States and China to take concrete actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to help preserve our planet," said Congressman Edward Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, Chair of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, who co-chaired today's meeting with Chinese officials. "Today's session furthered our commitment to work together."

In addition to Pelosi, Sensenbrenner, and Markey, the other members of the congressional delegation traveling to China this week, all experts on issues related to clean energy and the environment, are Congressman Earl Blumenauer, Democrat of Oregon; Congressman Jay Inslee, Democrat of Washington state; and Congresswoman Jackie Speier, Democrat of California.

For more on the meetings from the New York Times, click here.

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