China and the United States will set up a joint working group on climate change, China's official Xinhua News Agency said, in a potentially positive takeaway from what was an unusually rancorous high-level meeting.

The top Chinese and U.S. diplomats, in their first meeting of Joe Biden's presidency on Thursday and Friday, publicly rebuked each other's policies at the start of what Washington called "tough and direct" talks in Alaska.

But the Chinese delegation said after the meeting the two sides were "committed to enhancing communication and cooperation in the field of climate change," Xinhua said on Saturday.