Timeline: Major events in US-China relations since 1949

As US and Chinese officials meet in China, Al Jazeera examines the nations’ relationship over several decades.

The United States’ second-highest diplomat will meet with China’s foreign minister on Sunday for talks amid mounting tensions between Washington and Beijing. The meeting between Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Tianjin, China, comes just days after the two countries traded barbs and imposed tit-for-tat sanctions. While tensions remain high, a senior official in US President Biden’s administration told reporters on Saturday that “frank and open discussion, even – perhaps especially – where we disagree, is critical to reducing the potential for misunderstandings between our countries, maintaining global peace and security, and making progress on important issues”.