Blinken is said to be close to an imminent trip to China

Blinken had a scheduled visit to China in February this year, but it was canceled after a Chinese surveillance balloon flew over American soil – freezing the relationship between the countries.

Blinken would then have met Chinese leader Xi Jinping during the visit, which would have been the first between a US secretary of state and China’s leader in six years.

Both countries are said to have favored a meeting following a recent low-level American visit to China.

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