Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with his US counterpart Barack Obama in Paris, France, Nov 30, 2015. [Photo by Lan Hongguang/Xinhua]

Obama said that nowhere had the coordination with Beijing been more important or fruitful than on climate change. He credited the US and China with leading 180 nations to make their own pledges to curb emissions in the runup to the Paris talks.

Shi Yinhong, a professor of US studies at Renmin University of China in Beijing, said China has always insisted on controlling disputes "in a constructive fashion".

He said it becomes more important when differences on the South China Sea, US arm sales to Taiwan and cybersecurity escalate at the same time.

Wang Xu contributed to this story.