PARIS - President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping are recommitting to close cooperation toward a global climate agreement as talks head into overtime.

Obama and Xi spoke on the phone on Thursday evening. The White House says Friday the call was to coordinate efforts at the talks outside Paris, which the two leaders agreed are "a crucial opportunity" to get the world to meet the challenges posed by climate change.

Obama's call with Xi follows others in the past few days with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (nah-REN'-drah MOH'-dee) and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff. The U.S. has been seeking an agreement under which developing countries like India, China and Brazil take aggressive action alongside wealthier, industrialized countries to fight global warming.

The U.S. and China have struck major joint agreements to curb emissions that raised hopes that countries like India and Brazil would follow suit.