China, US reach consensus

Face to face: Blinken (second left) meets with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi (second from right) at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing. — AP

BEIJING: China and the United States announced an agreement to jointly implement the consensus reached at the meeting between President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden in Bali, Indonesia, in November, and “effectively control differences and promote dialogue, exchanges and cooperation”.

The agreement was reached at the talks between State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang and visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Analysts said the meeting on Sunday was the latest positive move for repairing the relationship between the world’s two largest economies.

The ties have remarkable bilateral and global implications and mutual respect remains the key to managing differences, they said.

Blinken arrived in Beijing on Sunday morning for his first visit to China as secretary of state.

“The two sides had candid, in-depth and constructive talks at length on the overall bilateral ties and important issues,” the Foreign Ministry said in a release.

The two sides also exchanged views on major international and regional issues of common concern.

Qin’s meeting with Blinken was the first of its kind between the two in their current capacities.

At the talks, Beijing and Washington agreed to maintain high-level exchanges.

Blinken invited Qin to visit the US, and Qin expressed his willingness to visit the US “at a mutually convenient time”.

The two sides agreed to encourage the expansion of cultural and education exchanges between the two countries and to actively discuss an increase in passenger flights between the nations.

They both will welcome more students, scholars and businesspeople to visit one another, and will provide support and convenience.

Speaking to Blinken on Sunday, Qin said that “currently, China-US relations are at the lowest point since the establishment of the diplomatic relations”, which is not in line with the fundamental interests of the two peoples and the common expectations of the international community.

The two sides should fully implement the consensus of the meeting between Xi and Biden in Bali, and “work to stabilise and steer the relations back to the right track”, he said. — China Daily/ANN