Climate change will for the first time be included in a range of focal topics during the two-day China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue, which starts on Wednesday in Washington.

Experts said the impact of the initiative among the world's two largest energy consumers would be profound, and that the two sides have vast potential to team up to address climate change and boost clean energy.

Xie Zhenhua, China's top climate change official, and Todd Stern, the US special envoy for climate change, are leading the climate change working group, which was initiated after the visit of US Secretary of State John Kerry to China in April.

In a meeting in Beijing in late May, the senior climate officials said the working group has been deciding on and finalizing ways in which the two countries can work closely together on technology, research, conservation, and alternative and renewable energy.

The group's results and recommendations will be presented to the fifth Strategic and Economic Dialogue. Climate officials from both sides stressed the significance of the move and the urgency to work more closely.

Xie said "climate change will become a new highlight of the Sino-US bilateral relationship," while Stern said that "forceful cooperative action between the US and China is more critical now than ever".

Along with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the new channel through the S&ED process will further help the two countries to conduct smooth negotiations on climate change, said He Jiankun, director of the Institute of Low Carbon Economy at Tsinghua University.

"Both countries have urgent needs to reduce carbon emissions and improve energy efficiency. Closer bilateral cooperation can significantly affect the world," he said.

The two sides have acted proactively in recent months. US President Barack Obama promised in June new rules to cut carbon emissions from US power plants and support renewable energy, though experts said the proposals might face uncertainties due to resistance from Congress and the business community.

China has also stepped up its efforts to cut emissions by implementing stricter standards and adopting a market approach. For instance, the country's first pilot carbon-trading program to cut greenhouse gas emissions debuted in Shenzhen in June.

Meanwhile, the two sides will further boost cooperation on clean energy. In 2009, the presidents of the two countries announced a far-reaching package of measures to strengthen cooperation in that area, including the establishment of the US-China Clean Energy Research Center.

Initial research priorities have been put on building energy efficiency, clean coal, including carbon capture, and storage, and green vehicles.

Han Wenke, director general of the Energy Research Institute affiliated with the National Development and Reform Commission, said the two countries have achieved substantial results in energy policy dialogue, joint research, personnel exchange, as well as cooperation among companies.

"China and the US have enormous room for expanding cooperation in the energy sector. Both are big countries with global obligations and strong inner demand for reducing reliance on fossil fuels and cutting emissions," said Han.

The robust growth of shale gas in recent years has changed the energy landscape in the US and has significantly reduced its reliance on imported crude oil. US oil imports declined 21 percent last year, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

Oil imports to China may surpass 6 million barrels a day by 2013, making China overtake the US as the world's largest oil importer by 2014, according to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

The remarkable shift between the two largest global energy consumers will have a strong impact on both countries' geopolitical strategies and the international oil market, said An Feng, president of the Innovation Center for Energy and Transportation, a Beijing-based non-governmental policy center.