CHINESE Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken agreed yesterday to keep building on recent improvements in bilateral ties and work together to keep the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza from spreading.

In a telephone call, they both referred to last month’s meeting between presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden in San Francisco, following years of US interference in Chinese affairs that has soured relations between the two countries. 

Mr Wang said: “The important task for both sides at present is to continue the positive impact of the San Francisco meeting, implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state and consolidate the momentum of stabilising Sino-US relations.”

The US State Department said that Mr Blinken concurred in emphasising that the two sides should build on progress at the summit.

Mr Xi and Mr Biden agreed at their meeting to keep channels of communication open and resume military-to-military talks. 

They also discussed the war Israel’s war on the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where China has been trying to play a role in negotiations. 

Last Wednesday, Beijing presented a four-point pathway to peace in Gaza to the United Nations.

Mr Wang said that any solution to the crisis required a two-state arrangement reflecting the will of the Palestinian people.

“China believes that the core of the solution is to respect Palestine’s right to statehood and self-determination,” he said.

Mr Blinken also raised recent attacks on shipping in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthi rebels and said that it was important to keep the conflict from spreading.

Mr Wang paid his respects to former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger, who died last month. 

“The diplomatic legacy he left behind is worthy of promotion and development by future generations,” the Chinese foreign minister said.