Chinese and American officials discuss new round of talks between Biden and Xi Jinping

“The key to the smooth development of China-U.S. exchanges lies in treating each other as equals,” Wang told Sullivan, according to CCTV.

“The two sides had candid, substantive and constructive discussions on a range of bilateral, regional and global issues,” the White House said.

The statement came after Sullivan held a second day of talks with Wang Yi and other officials aimed at easing tensions between the two superpowers ahead of the Nov. 5 U.S. election.

The talks, due to last until Thursday, are expected to cover a range of areas where the two countries disagree, including trade, the Middle East, the war in Ukraine and China’s territorial claims from Taiwan to the South China Sea.

Wang told Sullivan that the US should “stop arming Taiwan and support China’s peaceful ‘reunification'”, adding that “Taiwan belongs to China and ‘Taiwan independence’ is the biggest risk to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait”.

Wang also expressed Beijing’s displeasure over U.S. tariffs on a range of manufactured goods and export controls targeting Chinese chipmakers, and said Washington should “stop endangering China’s legitimate interests,” according to the Chinese statement.

But the U.S. statement also highlighted some possible areas of agreement, noting “shared concerns about North Korea, Myanmar and the Middle East.”