WASHINGTON — State Councilor Yang Jiechi met with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson at the State Department in Washington on Feb 8 to discuss bilateral ties and issues of mutual concern.

Before their meeting, Yang told reporters he was confident that he will “have very good discussions with” Tillerson, which will help push forward the “very important” bilateral relations.

“We’ve had many, many good discussions,” said Tillerson, referring to his talks with Yang before.

“And we are going to continue these very important discussions about US-China relations,” the top US diplomat added.

While announcing Yang’s US visit on Feb 6, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that both China and the United States have expressed willingness to maintain and further strengthen contacts and exchanges in various aspects.

Yang has come at the invitation of Tillerson, according to the spokesperson.