"As the secretary said, he extended the invitation to the then foreign minister when he was in China. That invitation was accepted. It has since been transferred over to the new foreign minister. We expect it to be accepted and we expect that meeting to take place. But ultimately, we think it's important to have these conversations and we will continue to have them and we expect them to continue to take place. But we can't speak for the Chinese government about when and where they will send their ministers."

Blinken traveled to Beijing in June, where he met with Wang's predecessor, Qin Gang, in the first visit by the top U.S. diplomat to China in five years. The U.S. State Department said then they held "candid, substantive, and constructive" talks, and Blinken invited Qin to Washington to continue discussions.

Blinken subsequently met Wang on the sidelines of a regional meeting in Jakarta in Qin's absence.