Laura Bicker & Tom Bateman
Jake Sullivan has been welcomed to China on his first visit as US national security adviser. He will hold talks with Foreign Minister Wang Yi as the two countries try to stabilise relations.
Mr Sullivan and Mr Wang have met four times over 16 months in Vienna, Malta, Washington and Bangkok. Their last meeting in January was shortly after a high-stakes summit between Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden that sought to reset frosty ties.
This week's talks - scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday - signal that China is still a priority for the Biden administration, even as the retiring president enters his final months in office.
Both Mr Sullivan and Mr Wang have already acknowledged a need to find common ground after disagreements between their nations.
Could another presidential summit be on the cards?
The White House is trying not to explicitly link Mr Sullivan's trip to the US presidential election. But it's hard to ignore the timing.
If Mr Sullivan is able to lay the groundwork for a final Biden-Xi summit, his trip would tie up the ends of the US president's most consequential - and fraught - foreign policy relationship.
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