Blinken met with the city’s top official, Communist Party Secretary Chen Jining, and “raised concerns about [Chinese] trade policies and non-market economic practices,” the State Department said in a statement.

Blinken stressed that the U.S. seeks healthy economic competition with China and “a level playing field for American workers and businesses operating” in the country.

“The two sides reaffirmed the importance of people-to-people ties between the United States and [China], including expanding educational, academic, and business exchanges,” the statement said.

China’s multibillion-dollar trade surplus with the U.S., along with accusations of intellectual property theft and other practices seen as discriminatory against American companies in China, have been a major source of friction.

China has also objected strongly to U.S. accusations of human rights abuses and Washington’s support for Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing claims as its own territory and has threatened to use force to bring under its control.

Blinken arrived in Shanghai on Wednesday, shortly before U.S. President Joe Biden signed into law a $95 billion foreign aid package that includes several elements likely to anger Beijing, including $8 billion to counter China’s growing assertiveness toward Taiwan and in the South China Sea.

Beijing has denounced U.S. assistance to Taiwan and immediately condemned the aid package as a dangerous provocation. It also strongly opposes efforts to force the sale of TikTok, the popular video-sharing app owned by a Chinese company.

"I think it’s important to underscore the value — indeed, the necessity — of engaging directly, of talking to one another, of laying out our differences, which are real, and trying to work through them,” Blinken told Chen.

"We have an obligation to our own people, and indeed an obligation to the world, to manage responsibly the relationship between our two countries,” he said. “That’s the obligation that we have and that we take very seriously.”

Chen said he hoped Blinken would get a “deep impression and understanding” of Shanghai, a city of gleaming skyscrapers, busy ports and more than 25 million people that is a magnet for ambitious young Chinese and foreigners.

The U.S. has expressed concern that excess capacity in Chinese industries — such as electric vehicles, steel and solar panels — could drive American and other foreign manufacturers out of business.

Shortly after arriving, Blinken attended a basketball game between the Shanghai Sharks and the Zhejiang Golden Bulls, which the home team lost in the final seconds, 121-120.

With the U.S. presidential race heating up, it is unclear what the implications might be for the relationship if either Biden or former President Donald Trump wins. Trump could potentially deepen a trade war that he began during his first term in office. His tough rhetoric toward China and his more isolationist approach to foreign policy could add to the uncertainty.

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