There is no expectation on either side that the meetings between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will lead to any major advance in relations between Beijing and Washington.
But the resumption of postponed face-to-face discussions should help put a stop to what senior China diplomat Wang Yi characterised as a “downward spiral” that has alarmed capitals around the world. Bilateral relations have sunk to their lowest point in decades, and Blinken’s visit was originally cancelled in February when the US accused China of sending a surveillance balloon over Alaska.
Fears of possible armed conflict, whether over Taiwan or other regional muscle-flexing by China, or of all-out economic war, have increasingly pushed themselves on to the global political agenda. US allies, not least in Europe, will be relieved to see the cooling down of the rhetoric and implicit recognition that relations with China must be managed.
The leaders sent a signal that mutual hostility must not define the current relationship. In that spirit Xi warned that whether China and the US could get along had a “bearing on the future and destiny of mankind”.
Among the issues on which progress was made are easing visa rules and direct flights. Detailed talks also took place, diplomats say, on “shared transnational challenges” from climate change to global economic instability and the control of the production of fentanyl, the deadly opioid.
Casting shadows over the relationship in recent months had been concerns over the spy balloon shot down over the United States and Washington’s claim that China was considering providing lethal support to Russia in Ukraine. Blinken’s easing of the rhetoric on the balloons and Beijing’s careful refusal openly to back Russian president Vladimir Putin – while not condemning him – have contributed to the thaw. China, meanwhile, is wrestling with flagging economic growth and worsening foreign investment sentiment exacerbated by the tensions with the United States.