Xi Tells Blinken US, China Should Be 'partners, Not Rivals'

Beijing, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Apr, 2024) Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday told top US diplomat Antony Blinken that the world's biggest economies should be "partners, not rivals" as the two sides pressed for headway on a range of concerns.

Blinken, in China for the second time in less than a year, pointed to improvements in the relationship.

Meeting Blinken in Beijing's Great Hall of the People, Xi said the two countries had "made some positive progress" since he met with US President Joe Biden in November.

"The two countries should be partners, not rivals," Xi said.

But he issued a warning over what China considers US pressure to curb its economy, which have included a sweeping ban on semiconductor exports and efforts to wrest blockbuster app TikTok from its Chinese owners.

"We hope the US can also take a positive view of China's development," Xi said.

"When this fundamental problem is solved," he said, "relations can truly stabilise, get better and move forward".

Earlier China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned Blinken that US pressure could trigger a "downward spiral".

Wang also warned that the question of self-ruled Taiwan was the "first red line" that must not be crossed in China-US relations.

Blinken described his talks with Wang at the Diaoyutai state guesthouse -- which lasted more than five and a half hours -- "extensive and constructive".

He announced that the two countries would in the coming weeks hold their first formal talks on managing artificial intelligence, a rising area of concern as the technology progresses rapidly.