Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Munich, as the two countries prepare for a planned visit by President Donald Trump to Beijing in April.
Wang called for 2026 to be a year in which China and the US move toward mutual respect, according to state media Xinhua News Agency. The two sides agreed to strengthen dialogue and cooperation in various fields, and to promote the stable development of relations, Xinhua reported.
“As long as we uphold equality, mutual respect and reciprocity, we can find solutions to address each other's concerns and properly manage our differences,” Xinhua cited Wang as saying on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
The meeting took place amid preparations for Trump's scheduled trip to China for a summit with President Xi Jinping in April. The two leaders spoke by phone last week and discussed trade and geopolitical flashpoints, including Taiwan.
Jeremy Chan, a senior analyst at Eurasia Group and a former US diplomat, said the Wang-Rubio meeting was likely more a function of their overlapping schedules in Munich than a need to discuss weightier matters.
“I think the main purpose was to keep the momentum moving toward Trump's April visit and we're likely to see another round of Bessent-He trade talks between now and then too,” he said.
Senior Washington officials visited China last week and discussed preparations for “the next high-level meeting on US-China trade,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on social media. Financial markets have been expecting more engagement between the two sides, to signal increased stability in the countries' relations. The optimism has helped the Chinese yuan strengthen this month in offshore trading.
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