US President Joe Biden is looking forward to talks with China President Xi Jinping in the “coming weeks”, top White House aide Jake Sullivan told the Chinese leader Thursday as they met for rare talks in Beijing.
Sullivan, the first US national security adviser to visit China since 2016, met Xi as he wrapped up three days of talks in Beijing which also saw him sit down with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and other high-ranking officials.
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His visit came as China was embroiled in security rows with US allies Japan and the Philippines.
Sullivan told Xi during a meeting on Thursday in Beijing’s ornate Great Hall of the People that Biden “looks forward to engaging with you again in the coming weeks”.
“President Biden is committed to responsibly managing this consequential relationship to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict or confrontation, and to work together where our interests align,” he said.
Chinese state media said Xi told Sullivan that in spite of “great changes”, China and the US could still enjoy good ties.
“China’s commitment to the goal of stable, healthy, and sustainable development of China-US relations hasn’t changed,” Xi said.
“We hope that the US will work with China to meet each other halfway,” he added, according to CCTV.
Sullivan told reporters at the US embassy on Thursday that the talks with Chinese officials had lasted for 14 hours, describing the discussions as “constructive, candid, substantive”.
The Ukraine war came up during the talks, but Sullivan said that both sides had not reached “any particular plan”.
“I can’t say that we did make progress on that issue,” he said.
The talks did not touch on the upcoming US election, but Sullivan said that Vice President Kamala Harris wanted to maintain “open lines of communication” with China.
Harris, also the Democratic presidential nominee, “shares President Biden’s view that responsibly managing this competition so it doesn´t veer into conflict or confrontation is essential”, Sullivan said.
On Wednesday, Sullivan and top diplomat Wang had discussed plans for their leaders to talk in the coming weeks.
They also clashed over China´s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions.
