President Xi Jinping on Saturday met with visiting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to discuss bilateral ties and issues of common concern. Xi first recalled Kerry's last visit to China as chairman of the U.S. Senate foreign relations committee in May 2009. Xi described Kerry as a veteran U.S. statesman, adding that he appreciates Kerry's commitment to developing U.S.-China ties. Kerry is the second U.S. Cabinet member Xi has met since becoming president in March, following U.S.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday he would be making a stop on the way home from a 10-day overseas tour to visit the family of a young diplomat killed in Afghanistan. "The reason that I'm stopping in Chicago is to visit the parents of Anne Smedinghoff," Kerry told embassy staff just before leaving Tokyo, referring to a 25-year-old American who died in a bomb attack earlier this month. Smedinghoff was one of five Americans who died in separate attacks on April 6 in Afghanistan, one of the deadliest days of the year so far for foreigners in the war-torn country.

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday welcomed moves to admit Japan into a Pacific trade agreement, and said China's three-nation trade pact could act as a complement to the treaty. After talks in Tokyo with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, Kerry said admitting Japan to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) would be a key step in the deal that would account for nearly 40 percent of the global economy. "Clearly having Japan in the TTP would be an enormous economic benefit for all of us," Kerry told a press conference with Kishida.

The US State Department proposed Wednesday a $47.8 billion budget -- six percent less than in 2012 -- with cuts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and increases for Asia programs and embassy security. Secretary of State John Kerry said the budget for the fiscal year beginning October 1 strikes a balance between furthering US security and economic interests while helping to curb the country's runaway deficits.