US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing for talks across a range of complex issues, including deepening strains over China's backing of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Blinken is due to spend several hours with Wang across closed-door meetings at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse and a working lunch as the two sides try to maintain progress in ties despite a broad and thorny agenda.
As the pair settled into their opening session on Friday, Wang told Blinken the "great ship" of the China-US relationship had stabilised, "but negative factors in the relationship are still increasing and building".
"And the relationship is facing all kinds of disruptions. China's legitimate development rights have been unreasonably suppressed and our core interests are facing challenges," he said.
Blinken replied that "active diplomacy" was needed to move forward with the agenda set by President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping when they met in San Francisco in November.
"There's no substitute in our judgment for face-to-face diplomacy," Blinken said, adding he wanted to ensure "we're as clear as possible about the areas where we have differences, at the very least to avoid misunderstandings, to avoid miscalculations".
US State Department officials signalled ahead of the sessions that China's support for Russia would feature strongly, saying Washington is prepared to act against Chinese companies that have been helping retool and resupply Russia's defence industry.
They have said such assistance risks hurting the broader China-US relationship, even as ties stabilise after being hit by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan in 2022 and the US downing of a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon in February 2023.
Despite increasing high-level exchanges and working groups tackling issues such as enhanced military communication and global trade, tensions remain.
Taiwan and the disputed South China Sea remain flashpoints, while the US is eager to see more progress on the curbing of China's supply of the chemicals used to make fentanyl.
Chinese officials and state media have cast doubt over the extent of possible progress on several fronts, with a China Daily editorial saying that both sides "have been largely talking past each other".
"On the conflict in Ukraine, the world can see it clearly that the Ukraine issue is not an issue between China and the US; and the US side should not turn it into one," it said.
Blinken is likely to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping before he returns to Washington on Friday evening, although neither side has yet confirmed a meeting.
He is also meeting China's minister of public security, Wang Xiaohong.
Blinken arrived in Beijing on Thursday from Shanghai, where he urged China to provide a level playing field for US businesses.