World
Xi meets Blinken, hopes for stable ties

BEIJING: China's President Xi Jinping hosted United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken for talks in the capital Beijing on Monday, capping two days of high-level discussions between the top American diplomat and Chinese officials.

Blinken's visit is the highest-level trip by a US official to China in nearly five years, with ties severely strained between the world's two largest economies.