Vice-Foreign Minister meets with U.S. officials

Vice-Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu on Monday met with U.S. ambassador to China Nicholas Burns; Daniel J. Kritenbrink, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs; and Sarah Beran, White House National Security Council's senior director for China affairs.

Yang Tao, director-general of the Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs of the Foreign Ministry, held talks with them.

The two sides had candid, in-depth and constructive communication on properly handling differences and agreed to maintain exchanges at various levels in order to stabilize and develop bilateral ties, according to a readout issued by Foreign Ministry.

They also exchanged views on hotspot issues such as the Middle East conflict, Ukraine crisis and Korean Peninsula issue.

They agreed to implement the "San Francisco vision" reached between the two heads of state in November, according to the readout.

The visit came just days after a trilateral summit among leaders from the U.S., Japan and the Philippines in Washington, during which they made irresponsible comments concerning China.

During the meeting, Beijing expressed its solemn position on Washington's attempts to piece together a small circle of the U.S., Japan and the Philippines and its interference in the South China Sea issue.

It also urged Washington to refrain from engaging in bloc confrontation and undermining peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, the readout said.

China also demanded the U.S. to stop interfering in its internal affairs or hindering its development, and stop imposing unwarranted sanctions on Chinese companies or oppressing China's trade and technology development, the readout added.

Kritenbrink and Beran are currently on a three-day visit to China starting Sunday.