Consultation helps take ties 'step forward'

China-US meeting on Asia-Pacific affairs sees 'constructive exchange'

Analysts said Beijing and Washington "made one step forward" this week in advancing working-level pragmatic discussions on managing differences, as senior diplomats from both sides convened in Washington DC for a China-US consultation on Asia-Pacific affairs, which was the first of its kind.

Topics including the Taiwan question and the South China Sea were high on the agenda of the talks held by Vice-Foreign Minister Sun Weidong and Daniel J. Kritenbrink, United States Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, they noted.

The consultation took place on Wednesday at the invitation of the US side "in accordance with the recent consensus reached between China and the US", the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.