China will not give up 'any inch of territory' in the Pacific, Xi tells Mattis

US Defense Secretary James Mattis Meet With China President Xi

Beijing -China will not give up "any inch of territory" in the Pacific Ocean, President Xi Jinping told US Defense Secretary James Mattis Wednesday during a visit to Beijing.

"Our stance is steadfast and clear-cut when it comes to China's sovereignty and territorial integrity," Xi said, according to state media, adding that "any inch of territory passed down from ancestors cannot be lost while we want nothing from others."

Mattis' meeting with Xi inside the Great Hall of the People comes as relations between Washington and Beijing have been marred recently by rising tensions -- not only by an impending trade war but also by both militaries viewing each other with increasing suspicion and alarm.

He is the first Pentagon chief to visit China since 2014, and also held meetings with his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe and other top generals.

Before departing Sunday on his trip to Asia, Mattis said he hoped to establish a "transparent strategic dialogue" with his Chinese interlocutors.

"Going forward, we obviously look at the actions of China, but I am going there to do a lot of listening and identification of common ground and uncommon ground on the strategic level at this time," said Mattis.

"I did not want to immediately go in with a certain preset expectation of what they are going to say," he added. "I want to go in and do a lot of listening. I will be very clear about what we see developing, but that's the whole reason I am making the trip instead of just sitting in Washington reading news reports, intelligence reports or analyst reports."

Xi told the US defense chief that despite disagreements in the Pacific over the South China Sea, "it has long been known that the real experts on military affairs do not want to employ military means to solve issues."