Beijing, China - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese President Xi Jinping "made progress" in Beijing on Monday, amid heightened tensions between the rival powers.

The meeting, only confirmed at the last minute, came on the second day of the US envoy's trip to China.

Xi described the talks as "very good" and said that the "two sides also made progress and reached agreement on some specific issues."

"State-to-state interaction should always be based on mutual respect and sincerity," Xi said, adding that he hoped Blinken's visit would help "stabilize China-US relations."

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It was the first visit by a US secretary of state to China since 2018. The announcement that Xi would talk to Blinken is seen as a special gesture, and a sign that Beijing aims to cool the soaring tensions between the rival powers.

The talks with Xi came after two days of intensive bilateral diplomacy.

Blinken also met China's top foreign policy official Wang Yi on Monday, who ranks above Foreign Minister Qin Gang in Beijing's power hierarchy.

According to state media, Wang said that Blinken's visit came at a "critical juncture in Sino-US relations," which were in a "downward spiral."

Wang asked the US side to stop hyping up the "China threat theory," CCTV reported him as saying.

On Sunday, Blinken spoke with Qin for seven and a half hours – much longer than planned.

During their meeting, Blinken reiterated that the United States pursues a "vision for a world that is free, open and upholds the international rules-based order."

The US secretary of state also invited Qin to Washington. Both sides said the talks had been frank and constructive.

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During his first visit to China as the US top diplomat, Blinken has addressed a number of contentious issues, but also areas in which Beijing and Washington could cooperate, the US State Department said.

The US and China have one of the world's most important bilateral relationships.

Those ties have been severely strained by a raft of issues, including China's stance on Russia's war in Ukraine, threats from Beijing against Taiwan, ongoing trade disputes in areas like advanced computer chips, and spying allegations.