SHANGHAI, June 28. /TASS/. The restoration of high-level contacts between Washington and Beijing was the main result of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to China, Su Liuqiang, professor at the Institute for International Strategic and Security Studies in Shanghai, told TASS on Wednesday.

"US Secretary of State Blinken’s visit to China in June 2023 produced limited practical results. An end to the stagnation in high-level China-US relations that followed the February balloon incident was the most important outcome of the trip, along with the resumption of high-level interactions between China and the US. The parties agreed to maintain high-level contacts; facilitate dialogue, exchanges and cooperation; and return to the agenda outlined at the Bali meeting between the two countries’ leaders late last year," the expert pointed out.

According to him, a number of high-ranking US officials will now make previously postponed visits to China. In turn, "Chinese State Council member and Foreign Minister Qin Gang will also visit the US in due course later in the year. It’s possible that the leaders of China and the US will hold another meeting at the informal Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November," Su noted.

He added that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s remarks about being "hopeful that the US will take a rational and pragmatic position" and "translate the relevant positive statements into action" made it clear that Beijing remained skeptical about whether US policy toward China would be consistent, rational and pragmatic. "It reflects the fragility of mutual trust between China and the US," the expert said.

Blinken visited China on June 18-19. The trip, initially scheduled for February, was postponed due to an incident involving a Chinese air balloon shot down by a missile in US airspace. Beijing argued that it was a weather balloon, but Washington insisted that it was a spying device used to gather sensitive information. Blinken’s trip marked the first visit to China by a US secretary of state since October 2018.