The US and China have pledged to stabilise their tense relationship following US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s two-day visit to Beijing.

Mr Blinken met China’s President Xi Jinping for talks on Monday, restarting high-level communications between the rival superpowers.

Mr Xi said they had made progress, while Mr Blinken indicated that both sides were open to further talks.

But the top US diplomat made clear that there remained major differences.

“I stressed that… sustained communication at senior levels is the best way to responsibly manage differences and ensure that competition does not veer into conflict,” Mr Blinken told reporters after the 35-minute meeting at the Great Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square.

“I heard the same from my Chinese counterparts,” he said. “We both agree on the need to stabilise our relationship.”

But Mr Blinken, 61, said he was “clear-eyed” about China and there were “many issues on which we profoundly – even vehemently – disagree”.

Relations between Beijing and Washington have plummeted in the wake of a Trump-era trade war, Beijing’s assertive claims over Taiwan and the shooting down of an alleged Chinese spy balloon over the US earlier this year.