HONG KONG—Senior Chinese officials told U.S. climate envoy John Kerry that continued U.S. hostility on a range of issues could jeopardize cooperation on fighting climate change, though Mr. Kerry said that working-level talks were productive in the run-up to a November climate summit.

Mr. Kerry, wrapping up a two-day visit to the northern port city of Tianjin, was warned repeatedly by his hosts that climate cooperation couldn’t be kept separate from worsening geopolitical ties between the two countries.

On Thursday, Yang Jiechi, leader Xi Jinping’s top foreign-policy aide, told Mr. Kerry in a video call that the U.S. had interfered in China’s internal affairs and harmed its interests, causing difficulties in the bilateral relationship.

A day earlier, China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, while describing climate-change cooperation as an oasis in the desert, said that "cooperation on climate change cannot be divorced from the overall situation of China-U.S. relations."