The United States and China have agreed to work to arrange a meeting between the two countries' leaders next month, US officials said, after President Joe Biden met with Beijing's top diplomat at the White House, AFP reported.
Biden invited Xi Jinping to San Francisco in November for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit amid strained relations with China. Xi has not yet confirmed that he will come.
After Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Biden and other senior US officials in Washington, the White House said the two countries had agreed to maintain "high-level diplomacy" to try to smooth relations.
The two countries "confirmed" they are "working together for a meeting between President Biden and President Xi Jinping in San Francisco in November," the White House said in a statement.
A senior administration official said the White House was leaving it up to Beijing to confirm that Xi would come, but "we are preparing for just such a meeting."
Earlier, Biden told Wang that Washington and Beijing should "responsibly manage competition in the relationship and maintain open lines of communication," the White House said.
Amid the raging Middle East conflict between Israel and Hamas, Biden also "stressed that the United States and China must work together to address global challenges," the statement added.
US officials "expressed our deep concern about the situation (in the Middle East) and urged China to take a more constructive approach," including talking to its allies there, the senior administration official added.
The White House released a photo of Biden and Vann shaking hands. Journalists were not allowed into the meeting, which was also attended by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
Wang is on a two-day visit to Washington, during which he also met with Blinken and Sullivan, the latest in a series of high-level contacts between the US and China.
The Chinese foreign minister was expected to meet Biden after Blinken met Xi in Beijing in June, but it was not confirmed before then.
After meeting with Blinken on Thursday, Wang said he wanted to "stabilize US-China relations" and "reduce misunderstanding" after years of tension.
Acknowledging that differences will still emerge, Wang said China would react "calmly because we are of the opinion that what is right and what is wrong is not determined by who has a stronger hand or a louder voice." .
Biden and Xi have not been in contact since their November 2022 meeting in Bali.
For years, relations between the world's two largest economies have been strained as they jostle for influence in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. Beijing is stepping up cooperation with Russia in an effort to reduce US dominance.
Tensions are particularly high over Taiwan, the self-governing democracy claimed by Beijing, which has launched large-scale military exercises in the past year in response to actions by US lawmakers.
The United States and China also exchanged remarks regarding the conflict in the Middle East, where Biden is Israel's main ally.
US officials have repeatedly talked about creating "safety fences" with China to prevent worst-case scenarios and have tried, without success, to restore contact between the two armies.
On Wednesday, Biden warned China about US treaty obligations to the Philippines, which said Chinese ships had deliberately rammed Manila boats in the disputed waters, a claim disputed by Beijing.
Speaking alongside the prime minister of Australia, a key ally in the Asia-Pacific region, Biden vowed to compete with China "in all ways in accordance with international rules - economically, politically, in other ways. But I'm not looking for conflict." /BGNES
