US says it, China had 'constructive' arms control talks

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States said on Tuesday it had held constructive talks with China this week on arms control and nonproliferation as part of an effort to keep lines of communication open ahead of a possible meeting of the U.S. and Chinese presidents this month.

The arms control talks in Washington on Monday, which a U.S. official described as the first since the Obama administration, were led by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Mallory Stewart and Sun Xiaobo, a director-general at China's foreign ministry.

"The two sides held a candid and in-depth discussion on issues related to arms control and nonproliferation as part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage the U.S.-PRC relationship," the U.S. State Department said, using the acronym for the People's Republic of China.

"This constructive meeting followed recent high-level engagements," it added, citing talks in Washington between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and China's top diplomat Wang Yi,

In the Chinese system, the top diplomat is not foreign minister but rather the director of the Chinese Communist Party's foreign affairs commission. Wang holds both titles.

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Teams for U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping have an agreement in principle for them to meet in San Francisco in November, but important details need to be hammered out, a senior Biden administration official said on Oct. 31.

(Reporting by Paul Grant, Katharine Jackson, David Brunnstrom and Arshad Mohammed; Writing by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Tim Ahmann and Jonathan Oatis)