New China Foreign Minister Seeks Better U.S. Ties in Call to American Counterpart

(Bloomberg) — New Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang sought better Sino-U.S. ties in a phone conversation with Secretary of State Antony Blinken on New Year’s Day, according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing.

Qin, who served as China’s ambassador to the U.S. prior to his new job, looked forward to maintaining a close working relationship with Blinken, the ministry said in the statement Monday. Blinken separately said on Twitter that the two discussed “maintaining open lines of communication.”