(Bloomberg) -- China described its meeting with US envoys as “in-depth and constructive,” as the two sides look to ease tensions that have been a recent hallmark of the relationship and prepare for US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s first visit to the country as top US diplomat.

Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng met Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink and National Security Council Senior Director for China and Taiwan Laura Rosenberger on Sunday and Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular press briefing in Beijing.

The envoys followed up on a meeting between the leaders of the two nations last month in Indonesia, Wang said, adding that they discussed “properly handling issues in bilateral relations including the Taiwan question, and strengthening exchanges and cooperation at various levels.”

State Department spokesman Ned Price said the talks “were candid, they were substantive.”

The visiting US officials made clear Washington “would continue to compete vigorously, stand up for US interests and values, defend the rules-based international order and coordinate closely with allies and partners,” Price said. They also discussed preparations for Blinken’s trip, he said.

Efforts to stabilize ties were dealt a new blow Monday when China filed a dispute to the World Trade Organization on Monday against US export control measure on Chinese microchips. Foreign Minister Wang Yi, meeting his South Korean counterpart on Monday, said recent US trade moves are damaging the interests of countries including China and South Korea, according to a government readout.

Wang called on other counties to resist what the readout called anti-globalization thinking. 

The meeting in Bali between President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden, which took place on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit last month, led to a resumption of cooperation on a handful of issues and efforts to dial back the angry rhetoric after tensions spiked due to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.

Beijing responded to that trip in August — the first by a sitting speaker in 25 years — by ending cooperation in some areas and with unprecedented military drills that included sending missiles over democratically run Taiwan.

As a result of the Xi-Biden meeting, the two countries agreed that Blinken would visit sometime soon, in what will be the highest-level US visit since Biden took office.

The burgeoning spat over microchips shows how hard it will be to calm tensions. According to people familiar with the matter, Japan and the Netherlands have agreed in principle to join the US in tightening controls over the export of advanced chipmaking machinery to China, a potentially debilitating blow to Beijing’s technology ambitions.

Kritenbrink and Rosenberger were also set to visit Japan and South Korea as part of their trip as the US looks to project unity with its allies.

--With assistance from Ocean Hou and Courtney McBride.

(Updates with comment from State Department spokesman in 4th paragraph.)

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