Joe Biden and Xi Jinping spoke of the need for cooperation in their first face-to-face virtual summit, with both sides aiming to stabilize the U.S.-China relationship while downplaying expectations for major breakthroughs.<\/p>\n
The video conference got under way about 8 p.m. on Monday night in Washington, hours after Biden signed bipartisan infrastructure legislation into law. China\u2019s state-run CCTV said the meeting ended after running for more than three hours.<\/p>\n
\u201cI look forward to a candid and forthright discussion,\u201d Biden told Xi at the start of the summit, adding that they had a responsibility is to ensure that competition between the countries doesn\u2019t veer into conflict. The U.S. leader said he planned to discuss human rights, economics and \u201censuring a free and open Indo-Pacific.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems to me we need to establish some commonsense guardrails, to be clear and honest where we disagree, and work together where our interests intersect, especially on vital global issues like climate change,\u201d Biden told Xi. <\/p>\n
Xi started his remarks by calling Biden an \u201cold friend\u201d while saying the U.S. and China \u201cneed to increase communication and cooperation.\u201d The two nations should work to find effective responses to global challenges including climate change and the pandemic, Xi said. <\/p>\n
\u201cChina and the United States should respect each other, co-exist in peace, and pursue win-win cooperation,\u201d Xi said, adding that they should work \u201cto build consensus, take active steps and move China-U.S. relations forward in a positive direction.\u201d<\/p>\n
Investors were watching to see if the summit helps defuse tensions that have built up between the world\u2019s two biggest economies over a wide range of issues, including tariffs, sanctions and human rights. As the summit got underway, the onshore yuan rose as much as 0.3% to 6.37, the highest since June, after staying in a narrow range of 6.38-6.41 over the past month.<\/p>\n
The White House had framed the discussion as Biden\u2019s effort to set the terms of the relationship, with a particular focus on avoiding unintended conflict. Besides mentioning human rights and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, the president also planned to raise China\u2019s non-market economic practices, such as industrial subsidies, though trade issues won\u2019t dominate the conversation, U.S. officials said. <\/p>\n
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Monday that relations are at a \u201ccritical crossroads\u201d and Beijing hopes they will return \u201cto the right track of healthy and steady development.\u201d Xi may also press Biden to clarify U.S. strategy toward Taiwan, a self-governed island which Beijing considers part of its territory. <\/p>\n
Xi comes to the summit in a strong position politically, having cleared a major hurdle last week to securing a third term as Communist Party chief next year. The consolidation of power in China makes it only more pressing for Biden to engage Xi in a leader-to-leader conversation, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Monday.<\/p>\n
The Biden administration consulted allies and partners before the meeting and continued coordination is expected afterward as well, Psaki said. <\/p>\n
The White House argues that Biden is also coming to the summit with a strong hand, having earlier Tuesday signed into law the $550 billion infrastructure bill that his administration says will boost America\u2019s competitiveness with China.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Joe Biden and Xi Jinping spoke of the need for cooperation in their first face-to-face virtual summit, with both sides aiming to stabilize the U.S.-China relationship while downplaying expectations for major breakthroughs. The video conference got under way about 8 p.m. on Monday night in Washington, hours after Biden signed bipartisan infrastructure legislation into law. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":227633,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-227629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n