President Barack Obama left Hawaii Friday morning for China after two days in his home state to promote conservation and combat climate change.

The presidential motorcade arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam at 10:34 a.m., and the president boarded Air Force One shortly afterward after shaking hands with service members waiting to see him off.

Obama, wearing a dress shirt with no tie and khaki pants, waved before entering the plane.

Adm. Harry B. Harris, commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, walked him to Air Force One.

The president’s morning in Hawaii was uneventful. He exercised at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe before returning to a rented Kailua home and departing for the airport.

Obama flew to China after talking to Pacific island delegates ahead of the World Conservation Congress meeting and a trip to Midway Atoll for snorkeling and to showcase the island’s natural and mostly untouched beauty.

The visit came as Obama uses his final months in office to try to lock in an aggressive legacy on climate change and environmental protection.

Opening his final trip to Asia, President Barack Obama is expected to join Chinese leader Xi Jinping in announcing their countries are formally taking part in a historic global climate deal. Yet thornier issues like maritime disputes and cybersecurity shadow Obama’s visit.

The president will meet today with Xi ahead of a summit of the Group of 20, a collection of industrial and emerging-market nations. Environmental groups and experts tracking global climate policy said they expected the two leaders would jointly enter the sweeping emissions-cutting deal reached last year in Paris. Unlikely partners on addressing global warming, the U.S. and China have sought to use their collaboration to ramp up pressure on other countries to take concrete action as well.

Entering the climate agreement has been an intricate exercise in diplomatic choreography. As Obama crossed the Pacific, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported China’s legislature had voted to formally enter the agreement. The White House announced Obama would speak about climate change shortly after landing in the eastern city.

The deal was reached in December, and the U.S., China and many others signed it in April, on Earth Day. Even the third step — formally participating in the deal — doesn’t bring it into force in the U.S. or China. That won’t happen until a critical mass of polluting countries joins.

During three days in China, Obama will attend the economic-focused gathering of G-20 leaders and hold his first meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan since a failed coup attempt against his government this summer. Obama also will meet with Britain’s new prime minister, Theresa May. Then the president travels to Laos for the first visit by a sitting president. Obama plans a major speech on his Asia policy and a meeting with the new Philippine leader while in Laos.