WASHINGTON: China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Washington on Thursday for high-level talks, the US state department has announced, as the two countries try to “responsibly manage” their fraught relations.
Wang’s trip to Washington is seen as paving the way for a potential meeting between President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in San Francisco next month.
The likely meeting would be Xi’s first trip to the US since April 2017. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will host Director of the Chinese Communist Party Central Foreign Affairs Commission and Foreign Minister Wang in Washington on October 26-28, the state department stated.
“Secretary Blinken and Director Wang will discuss a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues as part of ongoing efforts to responsibly manage the US-China relationship and to maintain open channels of communication,” it said.