After joking with journalists about it being a "slow news day", Blinken gets right into it.

He describes the relationship between China and the US as "consequential".

Both nations have an obligation to manage that relationship "responsibly," he says, adding that he and Xi are aligned on many "shared trans-national interests".

He says the discussions he's had with officials in China were all constructive.

After that last-minute delay, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is now talking.

Press play to watch live, and follow our text commentary here.

The stage is set but we're still waiting for the US Secretary of State to begin his news conference in Beijing.

In the meantime, here are some pictures from his earlier seven-and-a-half hour meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang.

Now that the meeting between Blinken and Xi has ended, all eyes are on the US secretary of state.

He's preparing to speak at a news conference, which is expected to begin soon. You can watch by pressing play above.

We've already heard from Chinese President Xi, who hailed the "progress" made in talks between the two, without elaborating.

Earlier, we asked people around Beijing what they thought of Antony Blinken's visit - and the downward spiral in US-China relations.

Derek Cai
Reporting from Singapore

Image source, Reuters

Spring of Mount Wuyi: that's the name of the imposing lacquer artwork on the wall behind Antony Blinken and Xi Jinping as they met in the Fujian Hall of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Chinese artist Chen Wencan, born in Fujian province, wanted to depict the beautiful scenery of the province's Wuyi mountains, made up of a series of undulating rock formations.

President Xi once said Fujian province, in south-eastern China, was his second hometown, having worked there for more than 17 years. He was born in Beijing.

The peaks and valleys featured in the artwork are perhaps a fitting analogy for US-China tensions - reflecting the highs and lows in the relationship between the world's two biggest economies.

Image source, Reuters

The Chinese foreign ministry has just released a read-out of the meeting.

The brief statement had the same quotes from President Xi that we saw put out earlier in the video by Chinese state media. There were no new lines.

To recap, Xi said the Chinese side had "made its position clear" and made some progress and agreement on "specific issues".

He said Blinken's talks with his Chinese counterparts had been "candid and in-depth" and he hoped the US secretary of state, through this visit, could contribute to "stabilising US-China relations".

Meeting sends message relations need to changepublished at 11:02 British Summer Time 19 June 2023

11:02 BST 19 June 2023

Stephen McDonell
China correspondent

That Xi Jinping has met Antony Blinken sends a message that his government is trying to halt the downward slide in China-US relations.

Protocol would normally dictate that China’s leader only meets other heads of state in this way; however, recent tensions between Washington and Beijing possibly required a big symbolic gesture to change the trajectory between these countries.

Earlier, the visiting US secretary of state met the Communist Party’s senior foreign official, Wang Yi, who blamed the United States for the current malaise, saying the Biden administration should “stop hyping up the China threat”.

But both sides will be happy enough that this trip has at least re-opened communication and paved the way for more high-level interactions.

We've just confirmed that President Xi's meeting with Antony Blinken has ended - it did so at 17:09 (09:09 GMT) in Beijing.

Stay with us for updates on what transpired during the high-stakes encounter.

As we reported earlier, President Xi said it was "very good" that the two sides had "made progress and reached agreement on some specific issues".

However he did not elaborate - so it is unclear what exactly he was referring to.

This is according to a two-minute video of the meeting, released by Chinese state media.

The only agreements announced so far during Blinken's visit are plans for China's Foreign Minister Qin Gang to visit the US and more flights and cultural connections between the two nations.

Xi also described Blinken's meetings with top diplomat Wang Yi and Qin as "candid and in-depth discussions".

The Chinese president has also said he hopes Blinken will make "more positive contributions" to stabilising China-US relations.

"State-to-state interactions should always be based on mutual respect and sincerity," Xi said.

"I hope that, through this visit, Mr Secretary, you will make more positive contributions to stabilising China-US relations."

We haven't seen Blinken's response yet.

We can bring you more pictures of the meeting between Antony Blinken and President Xi Jinping.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

We now have seen footage from the meeting between Antony Blinken and Xi Jinping in the Great Hall of the People.

"The Chinese side has made our position clear and the two sides [China and the US] have agreed to follow through on the common understanding that President Biden and I had reached in Bali," said Xi, referring to the pair's meeting at the G20 summit last November.

Image source, Reuters

Chinese state media are also reporting the meeting's progress.

CCTV said it was taking place in the landmark building of the Great Hall of the People, on the edge of Tiananmen Square, in Beijing.

President Xi Jinping is now meeting Antony Blinken as the US top diplomat caps off a pivotal meeting to China.

Blinken is the highest-ranking US official to meet with Xi since 2018.

Image source, Reuters

Confirmation that Blinken will be meeting China's leader highlights the importance of his visit.

The US envoy has already spent hours in meetings with his Chinese counterparts Wang Yi and Qin Gang - but it wasn't guaranteed that he would be speaking to China's leader.

The face-to-face meeting comes at a time when both Beijing and Washington have acknowledged a low in diplomatic ties. No formal agreements are expected today.

But Blinken will return to Washington having re-established such communications.

Stay with us for updates on Xi's meeting with Blinken which is due to take place in about 15 minutes.

Chinese officials have also confirmed that Antony Blinken will be meeting President Xi Jinping shortly.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said the ministry would "release news in due course".

Anthony Zurcher
Travelling with the US secretary of state

Antony Blinken will meet Xi Jinping later today at 16:30 local time, it has been confirmed.

Chinese presidents have generally, although not always, received US secretaries of state when they visit China.

Image source, Reuters

We've discussed why Taiwan matters to the strained ties between Washington and Beijing.

But the two powers are also jostling for dominance over a body of water that's shaped like a cow's tongue and dotted with largely uninhabited islets.

China claims the entire South China Sea as its own while the US insists it is part of international waters.

Access to these waters is key to defending Taiwan at a time when China's claims over the self-governed island have intensified.

The waterways also host $5tn (£4tn) of global trade every year, raising concerns that Beijing's increasing footprint could restrict commerce.

China has deployed its coast guard and ships to intimidate vessels from other claimant countries like the Philippines, a treaty ally of the US. A BBC team witnessed such manoeuvres first hand in April.

In response, the US has sailed its warships on so-called freedom of navigation patrols and secured access to Philippine military bases that are just one to two hours away from Taiwan by commercial jet.

Image source, Getty Images

China's top diplomat said the root cause of the trough in China-US relations is America's "wrong perception" of his country.

Wang Yi told Blinken there is "no room to compromise" on Taiwan, according to a statement by China's foreign ministry after the meeting.

He also demanded that the US lift unilateral sanctions against China, "stop its suppression" of Chinese science and tech developments, and to not interfere with China's domestic affairs.

"A choice must be made between dialogue or confrontation, cooperation or conflict," he said.