The first U.S. House delegation to China in six years met with senior Chinese officials this week as the two countries, entrenched in economic and military rivalry, seek to keep diplomatic momentum going ahead of an expected meeting between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The bipartisan delegation, which included three members of the House Armed Services Committee, called on the U.S. and China's militaries to talk more regularly to avoid veering into conflict—a growing concern as Beijing builds up its nuclear capabilities and exhibits its military power more assertively around the region. "We want to open up the lines of communication," Rep. Adam Smith (D., Wash.), the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said in a news conference Tuesday.

"When you are getting up into the hundreds, close to thousand, of nuclear weapons, it's time to start having a conversation about it, to make sure we understand each other and that we don't stumble into any sort of conflict." Earlier this month, China for the first time displayed its full nuclear triad—the means to deliver nuclear weapons by land, sea and air—at a lavish military parade, where Xi was flanked by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The Pentagon estimates that China's stockpile of nuclear warheads has more than doubled since 2020, and that it has a growing array of options to launch those weapons.

China says its nuclear arsenal is solely for deterrence. The U.S. and China have stepped up the tempo of meetings between senior officials this month ahead of an anticipated summit between Trump and Xi, which could come as soon as next month. The engagements this month have included high-level trade talks in Madrid and a phone call between Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his Chinese counterpart, Dong Jun. This week's congressional delegation to Beijing met with Premier Li Qiang, China's No. 2 leader, and Dong, among others. While a few senators have visited China in recent years, including Trump ally Sen. Steve Daines (R., Mont.) in March, this week's visit was the first by members of the House of Representatives since before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The drying up of visits to China—even as U.S. lawmakers frequent Taiwan, the self-governed island that Beijing claims as its territory—underscores the sour state of bilateral relations.

Many U.S. lawmakers have grown more hawkish with regard to Beijing and risk being seen by constituents as being too close to China. David Perdue, the U.S. ambassador in Beijing, said the lawmakers weren't soft or hard on China and commended them for making the journey despite the political risks. Engagement between the world's two powerful militaries has also slowed. Though Hegseth spoke with the Chinese defense minister by phone this month, the two haven't met in person. Last year, then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met Dong at an annual security conference in Singapore. The two sides reaffirmed plans to reopen direct lines of communication between their militaries, though those efforts stalled. This year, Dong skipped the Singapore conference. At a Chinese-hosted security forum in Beijing this month, the U.S. sent a defense attaché from its embassy, a lower-ranking official than last year. Dong told his American visitors this week that Beijing is willing to establish a stable military-to-military relationship with the U.S., so long as national sovereignty is respected, according to a statement by China's Defense Ministry.

It also quoted him saying that the two militaries should explore ways to open up channels of communication and exchange. Smith said the two sides didn't discuss Taiwan, a thorny topic. The House delegation did talk about Boeing, the American aerospace giant, during its visit, Smith said. During recent trade negotiations, U.S. and Chinese officials have been discussing a deal that could include fresh orders by China of hundreds of Boeing jets. Perdue, the ambassador, said the U.S. and China are in their "last days of that, or weeks of that negotiation," referring to Boeing.

Smith was joined by fellow Democratic members of the House Armed Services Committee—Reps. Ro Khanna of California and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania—as well as Republican Rep. Michael Baumgartner of Washington, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.