chinese foreign Minister Wang Yi has cautioned his US counterpart Antony Blinken against stepping on China's "purple lines”, as the two country's top diplomats met in Beijing on Friday.
Mr Wang opened the meeting acknowledging the China-US relationship is beginning to stabilise, however it's miles still being tested by "negative factors".
"must China and america keep to the right path of moving forward with stability or return to a downward spiral?" he asked.
Mr Blinken, who is on his 2nd visit to China in less than a year, will wrap up his journey with China's President Xi Jinping on Friday afternoon.
This visit forms part of a significant increase in dialogue and diplomacy, however frosty, among these rival powers as they attempt to put relations on an even keel after a period of immense tension last year.
Ties had been strained by way of China's claims over Taiwan and the South China Sea, and US export bans on advanced tech. They were further damaged by a row over a spy balloon last February.
Then, just a few days ago, the united states passed a law that would force chinese-owned TikTok to promote the hugely popular video app or be banned in the us.
earlier on Friday, Mr Wang warned that each countries could either engage in cooperation or confrontation, or even a "slide into conflict".
He did no longer specify which challenges he was referring to, but set out what he called China's "red lines" on its sovereignty, security and improvement - warning the usa now not to step on them.
"negative factors inside the [US-China] relationship [are] still growing and building, and the relationship is facing all kinds of disruptions," Mr Wang stated.
"China’s legitimate development rights have been unreasonably suppressed and our core hobbies are facing challenges," he said.
Mr Blinken became extra circumspect in his remarks to Mr Wang in front of the press.
Beijing and Washington have a shared responsibility to move ties forward with "lively diplomacy", he said.
nevertheless, he said he would be clean and direct about their countries' differences to avoid miscalculations in what he known as the world's most consequential relationship.
some of those differences were highlighted early this week after Washington approved its latest aid package deal which included army assistance to Taiwan. This drew sharp criticism from Beijing, which known as it a "serious violation of the one-China principle".
China claims self-governed Taiwan as a breakaway province that will eventually be under Beijing’s control, but the island sees itself as distinct.
behind the scenes, the americans have been warning Beijing to stop exporting parts to Russia that it says enables Moscow make weapons for its war in Ukraine, with a threat of sanctions hovering over the talks.
for the duration of a call earlier this month, US President Joe Biden and Mr Xi discussed avenues of cooperation, including efforts to combat climate change and narcotics.
but they clashed over the us' assist for Taiwan and alternate restrictions on technology.