The US relationship with China is entering a dangerous era. Time may be running out to save it.

• US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met China's Xi Jinping in Beijing Friday. 
• The pair remain at loggerheads over issues including the economy, national security, and Ukraine. 
• Xi told Blinken that the US should avoid "vicious competition" with China. 

Ahead of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's meeting with China's leader, Xi Jinping, China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, had a stark warning.

There was a risk, he said, that US-China relations could "return to a downward spiral."