Rex Tillerson, US secretary of state, wrapped up two days of meetings in Beijing on Sunday with little progress made in narrowing the two sides' stark differences on the North Korean nuclear crisis.
But to Beijing’s relief just weeks ahead of the first meeting between the two countries’ presidents, Mr Tillerson also argued that differences on any one issue should not be allowed to derail the overall relationship.
“You said that China-US relations can only be friendly,” Chinese president Xi Jinping told the secretary of state, adding that “we are both expecting a new era for constructive development”. Mr Xi and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, are expected to meet early next month in Florida.