Chinese president meets John Kerry

He said taking an updated approach to the relationship between great powers was "very important" for the US as well.

Xi met with Obama twice last year. Besides their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Russia in September, they held two-day talks in California in June and reached a consensus on building relations which feature no conflict, no confrontation, mutual respect, cooperation and common prosperity.

Kerry arrived in Beijing from Seoul earlier Friday morning, starting his two-day visit to China.

This is his second visit to China and his fifth to Asia since he took office in February last year. Besides China and South Korea, Kerry's four-leg tour will also take him to Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates.