China has blamed the U.S. for what it called a "stalemate" in bilateral relations as high-level face-to-face talks begin in the Chinese city of Tianjin.

A state media report says Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng urged the U.S. "to change its highly misguided mindset and dangerous policy."

The official Xinhua News Agency quoted Xie as telling U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman that the China-U.S. relationship is in a stalemate because some Americans portray China as an "imagined enemy."

According to China's official summary of remarks between Zie and Sherman, Xie has accused the Biden administration of trying to contain and suppress development.

Sherman, America's No. 2 diplomat, is discussing the fraught relationship between the countries in separate meetings with Xie and Foreign Minister Wang Yi at a closed-off resort hotel in the city of Tianjin.

According to the Associated Press, a statement from Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian also indicates that China has "expressed its strong dissatisfaction" with U.S. stances on COVID-19 origin tracing, Taiwan, Xinjiang, Hong Kong and the South China Sea.