In his meeting with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, Antony Blinken highlighted the importance of "responsibly managing the competition" between the two countries through open channels of communication, and ensuring that competition did not veer into conflict.

He reiterated that the US would continue to use diplomacy to raise areas of concern and stand up for the interests and values of Americans, according to a statement from Matthew Miller, a spokesman at the US Department of State.

They also discussed opportunities to explore co-operation on shared concerns.

Miller described the meeting as "candid and productive", noting that the two addressed a range of bilateral and global issues.

Taiwan is perhaps at the heart of the tensions between Washington and Beijng.

Foreign Minister Qin Gang said on Sunday that the island is a "core interest" for China and "the most significant issue" in Sino-US relations.

China sees democratic self-governing Taiwan as part of its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to take control of the island.

As the US shows greater support for Taiwan, China has accused it of hollowing out its longstanding One China policy.

The policy is the diplomatic acknowledgement of China's position that there is only one Chinese government - the one in Beijing. Under the policy, the US recognises and has formal ties with China rather than the island of Taiwan, which China sees as a breakaway province to be unified with the mainland one day.

However, it is distinct from the One China principle, whereby China insists Taiwan is an inalienable part of one China to be unified one day.

The US policy is not an endorsement of Beijing's position and indeed as part of the policy, Washington maintains a "robust unofficial" relationship with Taiwan, external, including continued arms sales to the island so that it can defend itself.

Taiwan sits in the so-called "first island chain", which includes a list of US-friendly territories that are crucial to Washington's foreign policy.

Anthony Zurcher
Travelling with the US secretary of state

Antony Blinken's meeting with senior Chinese diplomat Wang Li ended at approximately 12:30, according to the state department - an hour over the scheduled time.

The secretary of state’s afternoon is full of a variety of meetings, although they are all closed to the press.

He’s currently scheduled to be visiting with current and former exchange students. He then talks with US embassy personnel and local American business leaders.

There is still no mention of a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, although the secretary has open time remaining on his schedule later in the day before his planned evening press conference and departure for London.

Stephen McDonell
China correspondent

High-level meetings between governments are normally pretty formal affairs and, even behind closed doors, can be rather boring… then again there was the Great Anchorage Meltdown.

At the first such high-level meeting between Beijing and Washington during the Biden presidency, attacks were being traded from the outset.

There were lots of heavy hitters in Alaska for the meeting: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, national security adviser Jake Sullivan, China’s senior foreign policy official and politburo member Yang Jiechi, as well as then Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

There was none of this talk of “our two great nations working together”. It went straight into alleged cyber-attacks, economic coercion, Hong Kong’s crackdown and allegations of human rights abuses at Xinjiang.

Yang accused the US of using its "military force and financial hegemony to carry out long-arm jurisdiction and suppress other countries”.

Chinese nationalists ended up using some of the barbs from Beijing’s representatives and putting them on t-shirts, bags and even beer bottles as a kind of “take that” to the US.

The main quote from Yang emblazoned across these items can be translated as: “The US is not qualified to be condescending towards China. The Chinese people won’t cop it."

Then, in English, the words “stop interfering in China’s internal affairs”.

Given how hard it has been for this visit to take place, you can’t imagine either side would want exchanges like this being the highlight of discussions this week.

Though relations are still tense, both Beijing and Washington do seem to want to use the visit by Blinken to make the situation actually better, or at least, to stop it from deteriorating any further.

Image source, Reuters

If you are just joining us, it is the second and final day of the US secretary of state's high-stakes visit to China. Here's the latest:

• Antony Blinken has met his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in closed chambers, after the two posed for a handshake photo
• There is much speculation that Blinken will meet President Xi Jinping later today - but there has not been confirmation of this
• Upon his arrival in Beijing yesterday, Blinken met Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang for seven-and-a-half hours
• Blinken had a "very direct and very candid" meeting with Qin that also touched on their two countries' "profound differences", a senior US state department official said
• But Chinese state broadcaster CCTV took note of how Qin framed the visit - he said it was happening at a time when US-China relations were at “the lowest point"
• Qin also described Taiwan as the "most prominent risk" in China-US relations

Image source, REUTERS

China's Foreign Minister Qin Gang has described ties with Washington as reaching their "lowest point since the establishment of diplomatic relations" in 1979.

The countries find themselves at odds over a number of key issues, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China's territorial claim over the self-governing island of Taiwan, and its build-up of military outposts in the South China Sea.

President Biden's administration has sought to resume high-level engagement with China in recent months, while simultaneously curbing the exports of key technologies to China and signing a new sweeping trade deal with Taiwan. The latter moves have angered Beijing.

Last month, the US said a Chinese warship had cut in front of an American destroyer in the Taiwan Strait.

It led to renewed calls for better channels of military communication, to avoid a “miscalculation".

Nick Marsh
Asia Business Correspondent

China's economy is not in good shape right now. The long-awaited rebound after three years of zero-Covid is nowhere near as strong as Beijing has hoped.

Factory output is low, demand for Chinese goods from Western countries is down and the country is battling with high levels of youth unemployment. Chinese officials know there's a problem.

At a time when Western central banks are cranking up their interest rates to combat inflation, the People's Bank of China last week cut rates in a bid to stimulate the economy.

Some analysts think its economic challenges could be behind Beijing's openness to a high-level diplomatic visit such as Blinken's, though the original trip was scheduled long before the latest batch of poor data.

Nevertheless, China has repeatedly signalled it's open for business post-Covid. Western companies are still very keen to be in China.

They want to reap the possibilities of a huge market but the brittleness of US-China relations is causing some to evaluate how “all-in” their approach is.

Yet despite the politics, there is still will on both sides to work together. The recent visits to Beijing of Elon Musk and Bill Gates show this.

But these are businessmen, not politicians. After meeting Bill Gates last week, Xi Jinping called him the “first American friend” he had met in Beijing this year.

If Xi ends up meeting Blinken, it's unlikely the language will be as warm.

The US secretary of state is currently meeting with China's top diplomat Wang Yi, but it remains an open question as to whether he’ll sit down with President Xi Jinping.

The US State Department has not confirmed if the two will meet, but there is much speculation that they will.

US Vice-President Kamala Harris was the last high-ranking official to speak with Xi in person. That was back in November at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Thailand.

It came days after a Biden-Xi meeting on the sidelines of the G20 in Bali.

Image source, Reuters

Stephen McDonell
China correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is currently meeting Wang Yi, the head of the Communist Party’s Central Foreign Affairs Commission. The former foreign minister is now the top diplomat - that's why Blinken is meeting him, as well as foreign minister Qin Gang.

Wang speaks fluent English and Japanese and is known for not taking a backward step in public.

I remember one high-level intergovernmental meeting between Wang and Australia’s then foreign minister Julie Bishop.

The media are often allowed in for a few minutes ahead of the meeting to film and photograph proceedings. Etiquette normally dictates that leaders stick to pleasantries while the cameras are rolling.

But Wang did not. When Australia questioned China’s declaration of an air defence identification zone in contested parts of the South China Sea, he replied: "The whole of Chinese society and the general public are deeply dissatisfied with this."

In front of the media, he declared: "This is not what we want to see!"

The former Australian ambassador Frances Adamson passed Bishop a note suggesting that the gloves were off and, to the delight of the reporters there, she started defending her government’s actions.

Of course, Wang knew this would create a stir. But that’s what he wanted. Otherwise, he would have held off until the private meeting started.

On another occasion, at a joint press conference with Canada’s foreign affairs minister, he flew into a reporter over her line of questioning - she had raised the issue of China's treatment of human rights advocates and the impact of its ambitons in the South China Sea.

Canada’s foreign minister responded but when it was Wang's turn to speak he addressed the reporter in a lengthy tirade which included the lines: "Your question was full of prejudice against China and an arrogance that comes from I don't know where. This is totally unacceptable to me".

None of this means that there will be fireworks when he meets Blinken.

And Wang naturally can also be charming. As a former ambassador to Japan, he is an experienced diplomat who knows much about the world, including the US. For six months in 1997-98, he was a visiting scholar at Georgetown University.

Anthony Zurcher
Travelling with the US secretary of state

Image source, Getty Images

Antony Blinken and the Americans came to Beijing with low expectations - and they seem to believe they are satisfying them so far.

The US secretary of state met and then dined with Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang for nearly eight hours on Sunday - more than an hour longer than scheduled.

In a press briefing late Sunday night, a senior US state department official told reporters that the US was making progress toward its primary goal of re-opening top-level lines of communications and setting the stage for future talks.

The meetings themselves were "very direct and very candid". There were no surprises even as diplomats from the two nations discussed their "profound differences".

It was an assessment heavy in hopeful talk and light in tangible results. From the beginning of the trip, however, the American delegation has been insisting that the simple act of meeting with the Chinese at a high diplomatic level was a significant achievement after months of icy relations.

Monday has the potential to be yet another tightrope walk, as Blinken meets top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi and, perhaps, President Xi Jinping. The Americans characterised the second day of meetings as less breaking new ground and more focusing on ”a few areas to particularly emphasise”.

The Chinese had been somewhat chilly in the run-up to the Blinken visit, and their assessment of the meetings on Sunday was somewhat more dour than the American take. Both sides agreed, however, that Qin would visit the US at an undetermined point in the future and that they would work towards allowing more commercial airline flights between the two nations in the days ahead.

It’s not a lot, but the Americans seem to think it’s a good start.

Stephen McDonell
China correspondent

Analysts close to the government here have become very pragmatic regarding where US-China relations may land.

There is little expectation that this visit will result in any type of breakthrough.

However, China-US relations are so toxic at the moment, just having these meetings is being seen as an achievement… or, rather pessimistically, not a step backwards.

Much repair work is needed on so many fronts where Washington and Beijing are concerned: from trade tensions, to the South China Sea or climate change, there is hardly a point of international policy which is not currently causing friction between them.

Even the potential for a war must now be discussed as a serious possibility in order to make sure it doesn’t happen.

"I don’t think we can go back to the good old days. But, on the other hand, we’ve probably entered into a new normal," said Wang Huiyao, a former senior adviser to the Chinese government who now heads a think tank, the Centre for China and Globalisation.

"A new status where both countries recognise 'you can’t change me I can’t change you. And let’s not change each other. Let’s find a way to co-exist peacefully.'"

It’s a measure of the pessimism regarding the mood in this relationship that, if these meetings can simply plug the whole before the dam can burst, they’ll be viewed by both sides as having been successful.

The best that can probably be hoped for would be the re-establishment of communication lines and the clearing of a path for more high-level interaction.

At least that would mean going forward.

Anthony Zurcher
Travelling with the US secretary of state

Image source, Reuters

Blinken and Wang are currently in the middle of what is scheduled to be two hours of talks.

As you can see in our previous post, they met and shook hands in relative silence before walking into the meeting together.

A senior US State Department official said last night that the goal of today's meetings was to focus on a few areas of particular emphasis. The official characterised the first day of meetings as "very direct" and "candid", but said they were helping to re-establish high-level communication between the two superpowers.

Later this afternoon, Blinken is scheduled to meet American business leaders.

There is speculation, however, that he will also meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Blinken and Wang began their meeting about an hour ago.

It's taking place at Beijing's Diaoyutai State Guesthouse - a lavish estate typically used to host visiting dignitaries.

As we await any updates from Antony Blinken and Wang Yi's closed-door meeting, here's a visual recap of the top US diplomat's arrival in Beijing on Sunday morning.

Anthony Zurcher
Travelling with the US secretary of state

Antony Blinken has begun his meeting with China's top diplomat Wang Yi.

The US secretary of state made no comments after walking into the room at the Diaoyutai state guest house ahead of the meeting. The press was quickly ushered out of the room.

Image source, Reuters

Known for his "wolf warrior" diplomacy, Wang Yi directs China's foreign policy. He was appointed director of the general office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission in October 2022, after a decade-long tenure as the country’s foreign minister.

The 69-year-old was at the time also promoted to the Politburo, the second-highest decision-making body in the party, despite crossing the customary retirement age of 68.

Wang has often struck a strong and high-handed tone in conveying to the world that Beijing will not be threated and pushed around, not least by Washington. His stint as foreign minister saw a rise in tensions between China and the US on a wide range of issues, from trade relations to Taiwan.

Wang's previous position as foreign minister was taken by Qin Gang, formerly ambassador to the US.

Antony Blinken is scheduled to meet China's top diplomat Wang Yi shortly.

Blinken is the first US secretary of state to visit China in five years. He is also the most senior member of the Biden administration to make the trip.

We’re talking about the world's two biggest powers. The largest economies in the world. Issues between these nations can have world-changing repercussions. Here are some of the key topics:

• Trade - A trade war started between the Trump administration and China, and economic tensions have been ongoing ever since, even under Joe Biden. You can read more about what’s at stake here.
• Taiwan - China’s territorial claim over Taiwan frequently results in military drills. Often, this is in response to the US military holding its own drills in the region. It’s a complex issue, which you can read more about here.
• South China Sea - China claims ownership of the South China Sea. Parts if it are also claimed by the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan. Military posturing is common, and there’s some man-made islands that have raised suspicion. Read more here.
• Espionage - There’s the Chinese balloon shot down by the US. But there are also claims of corporate espionage, hackers, and Chinese tech firms like TikTok and Huawei have been accused of spying.
• Russia - The US put sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, but China has increased trade with them. China is now Russia’s most important trade partner. You can read more here.

Hello and welcome to our coverage of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s long-anticipated visit to China.

Blinken arrived in Beijing on Sunday, when he met the Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang. Today he is scheduled to meet China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi.

Blinken’s trip was originally planned for earlier this year, but was abruptly postponed after a large Chinese balloon - about as tall as the Leaning Tower of Pisa - started floating across the US.

The US says it was a spy balloon, China says it was a weather device blown off course. Whatever it was, a US fighter jet shot it down, heightening tensions between the two countries.

Neither side has spoken with any confidence of a major diplomatic breakthrough being made on this visit, but experts hope that opening the dialogue is a step towards improving ties.

Stick with us as we bring you the latest news and analysis.