U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed Monday to work together to help produce a global deal on cutting greenhouse gas emissions at a U.N. conference on climate change, the White House said.

The two leaders reached the agreement when they met on the sidelines of the U.N. conference in Paris designed to build political momentum for negotiations on a new, legally binding deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions. It brought together leaders from more than 140 countries.

"The president met today with Chinese President Xi Jinping to reaffirm their shared determination to work together and with others to achieve an ambitious climate agreement at the Paris climate negotiations," the White House said in a readout.

The Paris conference is set to run through Dec. 11 to try to produce a deal that will be applicable to all countries and keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures.

Obama and Xi also reiterated their commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and pledged to continue cooperation on implementation of the Iranian nuclear deal, the White House said.

During the meeting, Obama also emphasized the importance of full adherence to the U.S.-China cyber commitments from Xi's visit to Washington in September and stressed the need to address regional issues, including maritime differences, peacefully and in accordance with international law.

Obama also encouraged Xi to press forward with reforming and rebalancing China's economy and urged Beijing to establish a level playing field for U.S. firms to compete fairly in the Chinese market, the White House said. (Yonhap)