This is the first meeting between the two senior officials in eight years.

According to China’s Ministry of National Defense, at the meeting, Zhang said that the summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden in San Francisco last November and the phone call between the two sides in April have set the direction for the stable, healthy and sustainable development of China-US relations.

The two sides need to carefully implement the common understanding between the two heads of state in maintaining stability in military security in line with the common interests of both sides and the common expectation of the international community.

Zhang said he hopes that the US will also "move in the same direction", on a path of "mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation”.

The Chinese general touched upon China's Taiwan issue, reaffirming that the status of the self-ruled island was “the first red line that cannot be crossed in China-US relations”, and demanding that the US halts military collusion with Taiwan, ceases arming Taiwan, and stops spreading false narratives related to Taiwan.