Blinken to meet China’s Xi Jinping on Monday, U.S. official says

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday, as the top U.S. diplomat wraps up his rare two-day visit to Beijing amid simmering U.S.-China tensions.

Blinken will meet with Xi at 4:30 p.m. local time, according to a State Department official.

The trip by Blinken makes him the highest-level American official to visit China since Joe Biden became U.S. president and the first U.S. secretary of State to make the trip in nearly five years. Meeting Xi was only seen as a possibility before he arrived in Beijing, and will likely be seen as a positive sign that talks are going well.

Blinken was due to meet top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi on Monday, after “candid, substantive, and constructive talks” with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Sunday.

This is a breaking news story, please check back later for more.