Secretary Antony J. Blinken and People’s Republic of China Vice President Han Zheng before Their Meeting

VICE PRESIDENT HAN: (Via interpreter) It’s my pleasure to meet you again, Mr. Secretary of State.  In autumn of 2015, during your visit to China, we held friendly talks in Shanghai – development and the reform of the Shanghai free trade summit.  You asked about Shanghai’s innovative development, as well as how American companies were doing in Shanghai.  And now, eight years later, the memory is still fresh in my mind.

At present, China-U.S. relations are the most consequential relations.  In June this year, you visited China and held candid, pragmatic, and productive communication with various sides in China.  Such communications sent to the whole world the constructive message of China and the United States stepping up engagement and dialogue and working together to stabilize the bilateral relationship.  The world needs a steady and sound China-U.S. relationship, and such a relationship is beneficial with two countries and the world at large.

Last year, President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden had a successful meeting in Bali.  They reached a series of important common understandings which pointed the way forward for China-U.S. relations.  At present, China-U.S. relations face various difficulties and challenges.  It requires both sides to work together to show sincerity, work in the same direction, and make common efforts.

China has all along followed the three principles put forward by President Xi Jinping, namely mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation in viewing and handling China-U.S. relations.  And we sincerely hope that the U.S. would take more concrete action to deliver on the common understanding between our leaders for the sound and steady growth in China-U.S. relations.

I’d like to hear from you, Mr. Secretary of State.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Mr. Vice President, first, it’s good to see you again.  I remember well our meeting in Shanghai in 2015, and I’m pleased for the opportunity to meet here on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly.

I think it’s a good thing that we have this opportunity to build on the recent high-level engagements that our countries have had, to make sure that we’re maintaining open communications and to demonstrate that we are responsibly managing the relationship between our two countries.

From the perspective of the United States, face-to-face diplomacy is the best way to deal with areas where we disagree, and also the best way to explore areas of potential cooperation between us.  The world expects us to responsibly manage our relationship.  The United States is committed to doing just that.

And I’m looking forward to a good conversation with you today.  Thanks for having us here.