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 Kerry stood outside his imposing townhouse residence in Boston's
exclusive Louisburg Square to welcome Yang with smiles and
handshakes. After their dinner on Friday night, the two will hold
formal talks on Saturday, when Kerry also plans to show Yang some of
the sights of his native city.
Chinese and U.S. officials said the talks would cover a broad range
of issues, including cooperation against Islamic State militants,
the fight against Ebola, and economic ties.
Shared concern about Islamic State offers a rare convergence of
security interests for Beijing and Washington, and a break from
their more typical enmity on sensitive geopolitical issues, notably
in the South China Sea and matters such as cyber spying.
"The Secretary and the State Councilor used the dinner for informal
and in-depth discussions and to speak frankly about ways to
strengthen the bilateral relationship, improve cooperation on global
and regional issues, and better manage differences," a senior State
Department official said.
 China has significant energy interests in Iraq and is also troubled
by what it says are domestic Islamist militants. Its state media has
reported that militants from the western region of Xinjiang, which
abuts Pakistan and Afghanistan, have sought training from Islamic
State fighters for attacks at home.
Beijing has responded cautiously, though, to a call by U.S.
President Barack Obama for a broad coalition to root out Islamic
State militants in Iraq and Syria, saying the world should fight
terror but that the sovereignty of countries must be respected.
There has been no indication of any change in this stance and
Chinese officials say Beijing is already playing a role in support,
including training, it is providing to Iraq's army.
Analysts familiar with U.S. thinking expect the Boston talks to
include discussion of intelligence cooperation, including tracking
militant movements and financing.
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China is also keen to lay out a strong agenda for a summit between
its President Xi Jinping and Obama in Beijing on Nov. 12 after a
meeting of the Asia-Pacific Cooperation forum (APEC).
China hopes the leaders will be able to announce the completion of a
text of a Bilateral Investment Treaty, though difficult and lengthy
negotiations would still have to follow over access to sensitive
sectors.
Cyber security has been a significant irritant to ties, and on
Wednesday the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation said hackers it
believes to be backed by the Chinese government recently launched
more attacks on U.S. companies, a charge the China rejected as
unfounded.
In May, the United States charged five Chinese military officers
with hacking American firms, prompting China to shut down a
bilateral working group on cyber security.
On Monday, Kerry is to attend the inauguration of Indonesia's newly
elected president Joko Widodo in Jakarta, where he is expected to
hold bilateral meetings with regional counterparts who share
concerns about China's territorial assertiveness in East Asia.
Cooperation against Islamic State is also expected to be a prominent
theme.
(Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Ken Wills)
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