President Joe Biden is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in San Francisco next month, confirmed White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in a statement on Tuesday. Although Jean-Pierre did not provide specific details about the meeting, both leaders are expected to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco in mid-November.
“The president said he’s looking forward to meeting with President Xi,” Jean-Pierre stated during a briefing at the White House. “It’s going to be in San Francisco, it’s going to be a constructive meeting. The president’s looking forward to it.”
The upcoming meeting between President Biden and President Xi holds immense significance given the complex international issues at hand. U.S. officials have expressed ongoing concerns about China’s connections with Russia, its stance on Taiwan, and various other geopolitical matters. President Biden has consistently characterized the relationship between the United States and China as one of strategic competition, even as the U.S. actively works to counter China’s influence in regions such as the Indo-Pacific and Africa.
The meeting follows a recent discussion President Biden had with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Washington last week, further underscoring the importance of diplomatic dialogues between the two nations.
President Biden often references his interactions with President Xi, noting that he has likely met with Xi more times during his lifetime than any other U.S. president. He frequently recalls a conversation where Xi asked him to define America in one word, to which Biden responded, “possibilities.”
The last in-person meeting between President Biden and President Xi took place in November 2022 in Bali, Indonesia, on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit. As the world eagerly anticipates this upcoming diplomatic encounter, the discussions between the two leaders are expected to be closely watched and scrutinized, given the global implications of their dialogue.
