Biden and Xi will meet Wednesday for talks managing fraught US-China relations
It is the first engagement between the leaders in nearly a year.
WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet Wednesday in California for talks on trade, Taiwan and fraught U.S.-Chinese relations in the first engagement in a year between the leaders of the world's two biggest economies.
The White House has said for weeks that it anticipated Biden and Xi would meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco, but negotiations went down to the eve of the gathering, which kicks off Saturday.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement the leaders would discuss the “continued importance of maintaining open lines of communication” and how the they “can continue to responsibly manage competition and work together where our interests align, particularly on transnational challenges that affect the international community.”
China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday that Xi would attend APEC from Tuesday to Friday at Biden’s invitation and would take part in the U.S.-China summit.
Two senior Biden administration officials, who earlier briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House, said the leaders would meet in the San Francisco Bay area but declined to offer further details because of security concerns. Thousands of protesters are expected to descend on San Francisco during the summit.
Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng met for a second day of talks on Friday in San Francisco, the latest in a string of senior level engagements between the nations in recent months aimed at easing tensions.
Yellen said that during the talks she
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