Anthony Blinken, who arrived in Beijing on Sunday, is the most senior member of President Joe Biden’s administration to visit China
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken meets Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang in Beijing at the start of two days of talks with Chinese officials.
The visit is the first by an American diplomat to China in nearly five years.
U.S. officials say the main goal of the talks is to stabilize relations that have become extremely strained.
It comes nearly five months after Blinken’s earlier visit was postponed following the flight of a suspected Chinese spy balloon into US airspace.
The U.S. is lowering expectations for the trip, and both countries have made it clear they don’t expect a major breakthrough.
The aim, US officials say, is to reopen lines of high-level communication and stabilize relations that have been strained since the balloon incident.
China is holding military exercises near Taiwan, which Beijing considers an integral part of China. The US maintains close ties to Taiwan’s democratically elected government.
He has a full agenda, including meetings with Qin Gang and senior Chinese foreign policy official Wang Yi.
The war in Ukraine, trade disputes over advanced computer technology, the fentanyl drug epidemic in the US and China’s human rights record are all topics Americans expect to be discussed.
Chinese officials reacted coolly to Mr Blinken’s visit, questioning whether the US was sincere in its efforts to mend relations.
It is unclear whether he will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Mr Blinken is the most senior US government official to visit China since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021.
“If we want to make sure, as we do, that the competition we have with China doesn’t turn into a conflict, the place you start is with communication,” Mr Blinken told reporters on Friday.
He later said he hoped to meet with President Xi in the next few months.
A meeting between President Biden and Xi Jinping in Bali in November briefly eased fears of a new Cold War, but since the balloon incident, high-level communication between the two leaders has been rare.