Senior American and Chinese officials meeting in Beijing discussed plans for a call between President Biden and China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, as well as talks between their military commanders in the region, as the two countries work to stabilize relations.
The White House said in a statement after the talks on Wednesday that the countries were “planning for a leader-level call in the coming weeks.”
Jake Sullivan, President Biden’s national security adviser, and Wang Yi, China’s top foreign policy official, met for nearly 11 hours on Tuesday and Wednesday along with their aides, the fifth round of negotiations in less than 18 months between the two top officials.
The Biden administration has sought to smooth over tensions with China while continuing to turn up the pressure on China by curbing its access to the U.S. economy and technology. The meetings between Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Wang, following talks between Mr. Biden and Mr. Xi last November in California, are also aimed at showing that the rival powers can manage their differences.
Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Wang met at a lakefront resort in the mountains on the northern outskirts of Beijing, near the Great Wall.
One big question in the discussions is whether or when the two leaders might talk in the coming months. They are running out of time to schedule the next meeting as Mr. Biden is preparing to leave office in January.
The Chinese statement was less specific about further contacts. It said that the two countries would, “maintain high-level exchanges and communication at all levels.”
Both sides said they had agreed to a video call between their top military commanders in the region. The United States said that such a call would be held in the “near future,” but China was more noncommittal, saying that it would take place “at an appropriate time.” Admiral Dong Jun, China’s defense minister, met Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III in May in Singapore.
The United States has long sought more contact between the two countries’ militaries, in the hope that improved links might reduce the risk of miscommunication in case of a future crisis. Worries about possible miscommunication or escalation during a conflict have increased as China has deployed military forces ever closer to longtime American partners in the region like Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines.
But while the two sides did agree on an initial call, they did not establish the ongoing line of high-level communication between the two countries’ militaries that the Biden administration has sought. And the statements issued by both sides underlined that many other differences remain.
Each side used identical language describing the discussions as “candid, substantive, and constructive.” But the Chinese statement emphasized Beijing’s unhappiness with American export controls and its stance on Taiwan, an island democracy that China claims as its territory.
The White House statement said American officials urged China to work together to fight narcotics that end up on the streets in the United States, and raised concerns over the detention of American citizens in the country.
American officials are scheduled to hold further talks with other top officials in downtown Beijing on Thursday.
Brad Setser, a former Biden administration and Obama administration economic policy maker, said that the two countries appeared to have made more progress on security issues than on the many economic disputes that divide them. The United States has been pressing China to slow its very heavy investments lately in new factories, contending that this will cause overcapacity. China has denied that overcapacity is a problem.
“The U.S. focus has been on confidence-building measures that limit the risk of a future misunderstanding, and the U.S. certainly welcomes the coming call between ‘theater’ commanders,” Mr. Setser wrote in an email.
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