Macron, Xi to sign 'irreversible' Paris climate change deal after US exit

US files paperwork to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, the first formal step in a one-year process to exit the global pact to fight climate change.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping will sign an agreement that includes wording on the "irreversibility" of the Paris climate agreement, an official from the French presidential office said on Tuesday.

The agreement comes after the administration of President Donald Trump said on Monday it filed paperwork to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, the first formal step in a one-year process to exit the global pact to fight climate change.

The move is part of a broader strategy by Trump to reduce red tape on American industry, but comes at a time scientists and many world governments urge rapid action to avoid the worst impacts of global warming.

Speaking to reporters in Shanghai accompanying Macron who is on a state visit to China, a French presidential office official expressed regret at the U.S. move.

"We regret this and this only makes the Franco-Chinese partnership on the climate and biodiversity more necessary," the official, speaking on condition on anonymity, said.

"The text that will be signed tomorrow includes a paragraph on the irreversibility of the Paris agreement." Macron and Xi are due to hold a formal meeting in Beijing on Wednesday.

Macron is in Shanghai attending a major trade fair, where Xi will give the keynote address.