BEIJING: Leonardo DiCaprio praised China's work to combat climate change on a trip to Beijing on Sunday, and said he believes the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases could be "the hero of the environmental movement."

The actor and environmentalist, who had called for action to combat climate change during his Oscar acceptance speech last month, praised China's shift toward renewable forms of energy to lower carbon emissions.

"As we all know, the United States and China are the two biggest contributors, and I think that China has made radical movements forward as far as alternative energy and ways to be sustainable," he said at a news conference.

"I really think that China can be the hero of the environmental movement, they can be the hero of the climate change movement," he said.

DiCaprio was in Beijing to promote "The Revenant," which won him his first Oscar, for best actor, at this year's ceremony. The movie was released in mainland China on Friday and has already earned 100 million yuan ($15 million) at the Chinese box office.