BRUSSELS — The EU's top climate diplomat and four of his national counterparts are planning a joint trip to Beijing next month to meet the new Chinese climate envoy, three officials told POLITICO.

Germany, France, Denmark and the Netherlands will send their top climate diplomats to join the trip, tentatively scheduled for April 8, in what is billed as an unprecedented effort by the EU to build a multinational diplomatic track to engage China on climate change.

Europe is also seeking to grab the first mover advantage with Liu Zhenmin — who succeeded Xie Zhenhua as China's climate envoy two months ago — while John Kerry is leaving the White House as President Joe Biden's top climate change adviser.

One official said EU climate envoy Tony Agotha will attend, while another confirmed that Norbert Gorißen, the German foreign ministry's deputy climate envoy, will join.

For the Netherlands, the royal-turned-climate envoy Jamie de Bourbon de Parme will attend, according to a Dutch foreign ministry official.

The officials all spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the upcoming trip.

Agotha wouldn't comment on the trip and asked POLITICO to contact EU spokespeople for comment.

A European Commission spokesperson said they "don’t comment on individual missions." But the spokesperson noted the diplomatic outreach would operate alongside a semi-regular political dialogue between the EU's climate change commissioner, currently Wopke Hoekstra, and China's top climate appointee, Liu, as well as his boss, Chinese Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang.

The EU's efforts to broaden its discussions with the world's biggest polluter come as U.S.-China climate talks face uncertainty.

The possible return of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency means it is unclear what Washington's future role will be in shaping climate change policy with China, which accounts for half of the world's coal demand.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article misstated who will be attending the trip for Germany.