U.S. Pres. Biden and Chinese Pres. Xi Meet in California

We have to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict.

United States President Joe Biden in remarks ahead of a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Woodside, California on Wednesday.

Why It Matters: On the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, President Biden and President Xi are meeting in person for the first time in a year (APEC = a group focused on building a sustainable economy in the important Asia-Pacific region). Topics the two leaders were expected to discuss include curbing the flow of fentanyl, military communication between the nations, and the conflicts in Ukraine and Israel.

Ahead of their meeting, President Xi called the China-U.S. relationship “the most important bilateral relationship in the world,” adding, “I am still of the view that major-country competition is not the prevailing trend of current times and cannot solve the problems facing China and the United States or the world at large. Planet Earth is big enough for the two countries to succeed, and one country’s success is an opportunity for the other.”

Update following the talks – President Biden described his meeting with President Xi as one of the “most productive and constructive” in their “competitive relationship.”

Two key take-aways: Counter narcotics, stopping the flow of drugs like fentanyl or its components from China to the Western Hemisphere and re-establishing military-to-military communication between the U.S. and China.

Read More:

Remarks by President Biden and President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China Before Bilateral Meeting | Woodside, CA (The White House)

Biden and Xi meet on the sidelines of the APEC conference (The Associated Press)