The American president Joe Biden met today Friday with the Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, calling on China to work together with the United States to “jointly respond to global challenges.”

Biden stressed during that meeting that the United States and China must “manage their relationship responsibly and keep the lines of communication open,” according to a White House statement.

“He insisted that the US and China they must work together to address global challenges,” the statement added.

The Chinese minister is making a rare visit to Washington and had a series of contacts yesterday, Thursday and today with Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, as well as President Biden, as Washington and Beijing try to calm a tumultuous relationship and find a common ground.

He is also expected to meet with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.

The meetings could serve to prepare one upcoming visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the USpossibly on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco in mid-November.