U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken bought a Taylor Swift album on Friday during an impromptu visit to a record store in Beijing, China. After talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping aimed at easing tensions between the superpowers — and while en route to the airport — Blinken ducked into the LiPi record store in the Chinese capital’s artsy 798 district, Reuters reported. There, the top U.S. diplomat purchased a copy of “Midnights” (2022) by Taylor Swift. The shop’s owner, in turn, gifted him an album by Dou Wei, a Chinese rock musician. Inside the store, Blinken called Swift a successful American export and said that music is “the best connector [of people], regardless of geography.” Asked by the shop’s owner what kind of music he likes, the 62-year-old Blinken said he enjoys “everything,” but admitted that he is “a little stuck in the ’70s.” A self-described “avid” musician and guitar player, he also said that he loves vinyl records because of the liner notes. Blinken met with Xi earlier in the day, raising concerns about Beijing’s stance on Ukraine and the conflict there, but also striking a positive note about progress in bilateral cooperation. “We are committed to maintaining and strengthening lines of communication to advance this agenda, and again, to responsibly manage our differences, to avoid any misunderstandings, any misperceptions, any miscalculations,” the top U.S. diplomat said of progress in bilateral cooperation, including on military-to-military communications, counternarcotics and artificial intelligence. China was also urged to use its influence “to discourage Iran and its proxies from further escalating tensions in the Middle East,” and to convince North Korea “to cease its dangerous and destabilizing behavior and to engage in dialogue,” the secretary of state said. The meeting also touched on China’s maritime maneuvers in the disputed South China Sea, with Blinken reiterating the U.S.’s “ironclad” support for the Philippines, its oldest ally in Asia. The meeting capped a three-day visit to the Asian giant, during which Blinken also met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Public Security Minister Wang Xiaohong. Blinken arrived in China on Wednesday, visiting Shanghai shortly after U.S. President Joe Biden signed a $95 billion foreign aid package that included several elements likely to irk Beijing, including $8 billion to counter China’s growing assertiveness toward Taiwan and in the South China Sea. Read Also: Blinken transmitiu preocupações a presidente chinês sobre a Ucrânia (Portuguese version)