China’s President Xi Jinping and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meet in Beijing in bid to ease tensions | World News

China’s President Xi Jinping has met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing amid rising tensions between the two countries.

Speaking after the meeting on Monday, Mr Xi said he hoped that Mr Blinken would make “more positive contributions” to stabilising US-China relations, state media reported.

Mr Blinken, who is in China for his second day of meetings, met with China’s top diplomat earlier on Monday and with foreign minister Qin Gang on Sunday.

It is the first visit to China by a US Secretary of State in five years.

Mr Blinken is also the highest-level US official to visit China since President Joe Biden took office.

The visit had been postponed from earlier in the year following the spy balloon saga, when a suspected Chinese surveillance device flew over US airspace for several days before being shot down.

Mr Blinken’s visit is expected to usher in a new round of visits by senior US and Chinese officials – possibly including a meeting between Mr Xi and Mr Biden in the coming months.

In earlier meetings between Mr Blinken and senior Chinese officials, the two sides expressed willingness to talk.

However, they showed little inclination to bend on hardened positions such as Taiwan – the self-governing island that Beijing claims as its own territory.

They are also at odds over issues ranging from trade, US efforts to hold back China’s semiconductor industry, and the ruling Communist Party’s human rights track record.