He met Saturday with Chen Jining, the ruling Chinese Communist Party's chief official in Shanghai, according to a pool report, stressing the United States "does not want to decouple our economies".
He also raised the issue of Chinese firms' role in the fentanyl drug addiction crisis in the United States.
"This is not the government but this is Chinese companies," he stressed.
"They are fuelling the fentanyl crisis that is poisoning communities across the United States," he said.
Washington this week sanctioned a China-based network for producing and distributing chemicals used to make drugs -- including those fueling the deadly fentanyl crisis in America.
Beijing has said it opposes the sanctions, and insisted the opioid problem is "rooted in" the United States and not its responsibility.
