China Foreign Minister Wang Yi claimed the United States has suppressed his country’s development ahead of a meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing, China, on Friday.

“And the relationship is facing all kinds of disruptions. China’s legitimate development rights have been unreasonably suppressed, and our core interests are facing challenges,” Yi said.

Blinken encouraged “active diplomacy” between the two countries to achieve the goals and objectives established by President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping when they met last year in San Francisco, Reuters reported. 

The comments came as Yi met with Blinken in an attempt to strengthen the relationship between the two countries and settle lingering trade and policy disagreements, Reuters reported. 

Wang discussed tensions between the two countries, saying the “giant ship” of relations between the two superpowers had stabilized. However, he stressed there are still several concerns to resolve and that “negative factors in the relationship are still increasing and building.”

Wang listed his country’s complaints with many U.S. policies involving China, including Taiwan, China’s autonomy on its right to diplomacy in international relations, and concerns in the South China Sea, ABC News reported.

​​“I look forward to these discussions being very clear, very direct about the areas where we have differences and where the United States stands, and I have no doubt you will do the same on behalf of China,” Blinken said.

“There is no substitute in our judgment for face-to-face diplomacy in order to try to move forward,” Blinken added. “But also to make sure we’re as clear as possible about the areas where we have differences at the very least to avoid misunderstandings, to avoid miscalculations.”