BY AAMER MADHANI AND COLLEEN LONG|
WASHINGTON — President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet Wednesday in Northern California for talks on trade, Taiwan and managing fraught U.S.-Chinese relations in the first engagement between the leaders of the world’s two biggest economies in nearly a year, Biden administration officials said.
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 the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit from Tuesday to Friday next week 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 that 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.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng met Thursday in San Francisco, the latest in a string of senior-level engagements between the nations in recent months aimed at easing tensions. Yellen and He are set to continue talks Friday.
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