China's top environmental watchdog has set up a special office headed by one of its deputies to assist Xie Zhenhua, a veteran on climate issues who has been named China's special climate envoy.

"The appointment fully demonstrates the high importance China has attached to coping with climate change," Liu Youbin, spokesman of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said during a news conference on Thursday.

Xie, 71, led the Chinese delegation in global climate negotiations from 2007 to 2018, during which China joined the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change.