US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to travel to China next week, rescheduling a visit that was previously canceled in February due to a dispute over a suspected surveillance balloon.

According to anonymous US officials, Blinken is expected to arrive in Beijing on June 18. This will mark the first visit by a top US diplomat to China since his predecessor Mike Pompeo’s trip in October 2018.

Although the State Department has not officially announced the travel plans, there have been indications of an upcoming announcement regarding senior officials’ visits.

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The decision to send Blinken to China was made during a meeting between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in November 2022, where they aimed to prevent escalating tensions.

While tensions between the two countries have been high in recent years, efforts have been made to manage the situation, including a closed-door meeting between Biden’s national security advisor and a top Chinese diplomat in Vienna last month.

Disputes over Taiwan, regional assertiveness, trade, and human rights continue to be sources of contention, although the Biden administration seeks limited areas of cooperation, such as climate change, compared to the more adversarial stance taken by the previous administration.