US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Beijing to discuss strengthening relations between the two countries.
Xi told Blinken that China and the US should be "partners, not rivals" and avoid "vicious competition".
Sino-US relations have seen some progress in the months since Xi met US President Joe Biden last November, the Chinese president acknowledged, but said "there are still many issues that need to be resolved".
Earlier, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Blinken should not cross China's "red lines", which include Taiwan.
The relationship between China and the US is slowly stabilizing, but there are still "negative factors" affecting it, he added.
China claims that Taiwan is a breakaway province that will eventually come under Beijing's control, while the US supports the island's independence.
Washington last week approved an aid package that includes military aid to Taiwan, drawing sharp criticism from Beijing.
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Blinken raised concerns with Wang about China's support for Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said this week that he will visit China in May.
The US Secretary of State, during his second visit to China in less than a year, said that Beijing and Washington have a shared responsibility to improve ties with "active diplomacy".
His trip comes days after the US passed the law with which they will force TikTok Chinese-owned to sell the video app or be banned in the US.
For many years, ByteDance has faced questions about the security of user data and its ties to the government in Beijing. Bytdens denies the allegations and insists he has no intention of selling TikTok.
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