Wang Guangya said on Wednesday he reached the agreement with John Bolton during a meeting on Tuesday, which was the new US ambassador's first full day in his new post, because both believe the proposal by the so-called Group of Four would divide the UN's 191 member states.

Washington and Beijing are already on record as opposing the G-4 resolution for different reasons, but the agreement would mark a new joint effort to prevent its approval by the UN General Assembly, which requires a two-thirds "yes" vote.

Wang and Bolton, who have known each other for about 15 years, met again on Wednesday outside the office of General Assembly President Jean Ping, part of a round of courtesy calls the US envoy is making to Security Council members and senior UN officials."There's a lot of important work," Bolton said. "It's a very busy schedule in the first couple of days, and I think it's been productive and I'm certainly enjoying myself."